


Two messed up people

by Yukimi



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Angst, Crime Fighting, Crime Scenes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forensics, Investigations, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychologists & Psychiatrists, Romance, Stubbornness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-28
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-01-10 08:39:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 47,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1157513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yukimi/pseuds/Yukimi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morgan wants to help Hodges who in turn doesn't want anyone caring. Hodges just wants to protect himself from more heart-ache. Morgan doesn't even want to acknowledge her own problems. Two very very stubborn people. A typical (?) romance story written by a newbie who thinks Modges deserves some more love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a repost I'll be putting up on Tuesdays from a WIP on FF.Net
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.
> 
>  **A/N:** This is my first fic so the possibilities this isn't a train wreck are kind of low. Read at your own risk. I wanted to give the Morgan and Hodges couple some love so let's see what I can do about that. Please don't flame me too much about typos because English isn't my mother tongue and I have no beta.
> 
> This is a Modges romance story. I don't know just yet if I'll include other couples and/or if it will contain smut sweet smut. I'll try not to OOC the characters too much.
> 
> This story starts a week after Hodges and Elisabetta end their relationship because even though they like each other, they are incompatible.

**Morgan's POV**

It had been a week since she had given advice to Hodges about marrying Elisabetta. A big part of her had wanted to tell him to call it off but she cared too much about him to ruin his chance at happiness. She had doubted the Italian beauty was being honest about not doing it just for her green card for a long while but soon she realised it was her jealousy making her think that because she knew David wasn't being a fool.

It had taken her by surprise how badly she had taken it all. She was a grown up woman for fuck's sake and she didn't have any claim on him. Still she had managed to keep it all inside and she was well on her way on giving up on him when he had to ask her if she though he was making a mistake getting married to her and even though she had given him her best advice, she couldn't stop thinking about it all once and again.

She kept replaying the scene on her head. Most times she was very happy with having being a good friend. She had been honest telling him she would support him whatever he decided because he was her best friend and she knew he was a good logical man and he would lead a very happy life with his beautiful wife and their little mini Hodges (the mental image of mini Hodges always made her smile even in mid of her despair). Other times her mind would flew wild and she would imagine very different scenarios in which she would tell him, she loved him and he'd return her feelings. It was all very romantic in a Disney kind of way except for the ones that ended up with them having sex on his desk.

She guessed she wouldn't be this frustrated if there was at least a minimal quantity of bliss on his face these days but David appeared to be even more reclusive and gloomy than ever. She had caught Nick, Greg and Henry trying to decide if they should pry and Finn of all people seemed to look away or lower her gaze every time they had to interact. She decided she would try to talk to him next shift.

* * *

But then next shift passed and the next and then the next and she didn't have the time to talk to him. Oh, she had good excuses. He had looked happier, they were super busy with a more than a decade old case that her dad and most people in the lab had worked on and she didn't want to meddle. The truth was that she was simply a coward and didn't want him to tell her they were doing great, not at least until she thought she could bear the news.

-"Damn Morgan, grow a spine"- she told herself.

So she finally managed to steer herself to the trace lab and try to establish a conversation.

-"Morgan, do you bring me some traces to work my magic on?"- he inquired as soon as she saw her entering. His normal half-smile on.

-"Actually, I was wondering if you were going to take your lunch break now and you wouldn't mind if I accompanied you?"- she tried to ask as non-nonchalantly as she could.

-"Actually. I was thinking of using that time to finish something for Nick. That body of his was covered in about 30 unknown substances and since they don't know who he even is, they really need of my expertise"- he looked like the cat who had just eaten the canary.

-"Please"- she put on some puppy dog eyes- "You seemed really down last week and I've been worried".

Suddenly his demeanour changed:

-"Look, I understand that you are trying to help but as I told Nick AND Greg AND Henry, I am Okay. Look here, I'm smiling"- he put on one of the most fake smiles ever-"Now could you guys leave me work in peace?"

She didn't laugh.

-"Okay, no need for sarcastic replies"- He was just being Hodges and keeping people at bay but it still stung quite a bit- "I won't pry and I'll tell the guys not to bother you."

-"Morgan... I didn't mean..."- he seemed to have realised he had touched a nerve.

She left before he could even finish the sentence but didn't mope for too long. David hadn't been this closed off with her ever so her Hodges' senses were definitely tingling. Had she really thought that? Greg and company were certainly geeking her up. She realised she would need to find what was wrong with him before actually confronting him if she didn't want more of that reflection non-sense he did.

She considered visiting Elisabetta for less than a minute (no way in hell! grrrr) and decided to question Finn who had been behaving so weirdly last week.

* * *

She decided she wan't going to let things to luck and started planing. Soon, it would be Saturday, a Saturday shift-free. If she invited Sarah and Finn to a Girls Night Out, she was sure she'd have the blood specialist hooked. Now she just had to convince Sarah Sidle and that took the promise to go to a place with a good vegetarian menu and that she would give it a go to a novel Sarah'd recently discovered to have someone to talk about it.

When she finished the paperwork on a hit and run, she hit the showers to get ready. It had actually been quite a simple case, except for the ubiquitous paperwork, as they've caught the 18 year old just one street away after the poor bastard got a flat and flattened a post. The victim had also surprisingly survived so the night didn't have the depressive tinge of darker shifts.

She liked the idea of going out with her co-workers. She was getting closer to them which made her happy because she didn't have much in the way of friends in Las Vegas. Still she found it hard feeling like the newbie in the place. Sarah had been there for such a long time (which came with its own type of problems as when she couldn't bring herself to tell everybody about her separation from Grissom) and Finn and Russell had each other even if their relationship had been a bit muddled at the start. That's why she really didn't want to lose Hodges who was the person she had felt most connected with, the person who had gotten her back on her feet after the kidnapping and the awfulness that came with it, but other two forces were pushing her to intervene. Her desire to protect him even if it was none of her business and those twisted dark hot feelings she felt in her stomach when she looked at him. Hot... hot mess, that's what she was right now.

The water cooled her head. Lately, it seemed she couldn't form coherent thoughts... everything ended up being about Hodges and she hated that because she wasn't an adolescent boy-crazy girl. She stepped out of the shower space, the blue tiles cold against her feet. After putting on her favourite red dressy shirt, black slacks, a silver chain and some light make up, she had made her mental plan on how to get Finn to spill and she also planned to have a great time with her two newest friends.

* * *

-"Brody, have a nice weekend"- said Gordon Shepherd, the agent in charge of the desk during day shift.

-"I sure plan to after I sleep for a few hours"- she grinned at him and thought to herself- "and buy enough hard liquor to soften Finn's tongue".


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about not re-posting this yesterday. As a treat, tomorrow you'll get another one as I've decided that it's easier if I post this everywhere on Thursdays and maybe that way I won't become completely nuts.  
>  ****  
>  **\-------------------------------------------------------------------**  
>  ****  
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.
> 
>  **A/N:** When I want to give up on writing this story, I tell myself that no matter how terrible it is, at least I'm improving my English skills.
> 
> Three nights ago when I couldn't sleep because I had caught some nasty stomach bug (on my birthday no less), I'll spare you the details, I realised I'd forgotten to ask for feedback. I'm really inexperienced writing-wise and I'd appreciate any advice you kind readers can give me.
> 
> Also if you have any ships (het/slash/femmeslash/robots) you'd like to see in this story, please tell me in the reviews.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He had thought the silver lining of breaking up with Elisabetta would be living again by himself. He was a very particular man with his space, some may call him OCD but he just liked to have things done his way. It hadn't been the case. In fact he still hadn't washed the cover of her pillow because her smell, that mix of perfume whose main essence his keen nose had easily identified on their first encounter, coconut body milk and more mundane substances, made him feel not so alone. Unfortunately it also made him remember when she was last there, in the end, the sense of smell is the most powerful motivator of memory, specially of strong emotional ones.

She had come to pick up the rest of her stuff and he had wanted to see her one last time but it had been so awkward. He had prepared everything in a small box and both tried to do some small conversation but they didn't know what to say to each other anymore and he had retreated to their... well his bedroom to give her some space to look through her things. From there he heard her crying softly and pictured her face with tears messing up her carefully applied make up. She would be covering her mouth to stifle her sobs so he would not hear and be with the back to the door so she could have time to compose herself if he entered. It killed him but he wasn't going to go to console her because that wasn't what Elisabetta wanted. She wanted to be strong and he could give her that.

Several minutes after the sobbing and then the sniffling subsided, he came out to a smiling Elisabetta, re-applied make up in those lovely Italian features and barely any signs of her distress. She kissed him in his cheek.

-"David, I know that our time together has been important to us both and I know this is hard but please find yourself someone. Someone who will consider you their everything and will want the same things as you. Someone who laughs at that sardonic humour of yours. Someone who will want to kiss that cute naso of yours"- she finished the sentence in a playful tone but the sorrow could be heard underneath- "I know you well David and I feel like you can be molto ostinato and close off to people. I want you to have a good happy life. Ciao il mio amore".

The words got stuck on his throat but he managed to return the sentiment and they parted ways. Her words felt more like a curse than an encouragement or even more like prophecy of the next few weeks. He certainly didn't want to fall in love again, to connect with another human being like that, to feel hurt like this again. What he wouldn't do to return to be the stoic asshole that people used to go out of their way not to meet, when he would feel so much important than the other lab workers and was so pompous that no one befriended him. If no one was near him, no one could abandon him like Wendy and now Elisabetta. He didn't mind being alone before, right?

* * *

He had decided not to tell anyone although by the way Finn looked at him, like she had just killed his favourite hamster and flushed it down the toilet, he sensed she knew about it and she felt partially responsible. The reason he kept quiet, even after they started pestering him to open up, was that he didn't want their pity. He had gotten quite close with his former rival Sanders and also with co-lab rat Henry in the last years and he was sure that they would try to commiserate with him, because they were compassionate people, and they would say the typical platitudes about being a lot of other fishes in the sea and that she was losing on, but they wouldn't be surprised about this development. He couldn't fault them for that either, he didn't understand either how someone would want to be with him, put up with his "adorable quirks", as his mother used to call his habits that weirded his classmates out, and Wendy and his previous girlfriends had all abandoned him. He felt himself completely unlovable. Still he didn't want to look at them and see those thoughts reflected back at him. They were pretty persistent too and he didn't know how many invitations for drinks, dinner, breakfast or lunches he could reject before they threw him an intervention. Sigh...

After nearly a week, he finally had had enough and started barking at whoever tried to interrogate him and Morgan was the unfortunate victim. He felt like an absolute jerk. She was his best friend, and she was always so nice and thoughtful and he had been an ass. He imagined how hurt he would have felt if she had rejected his help after her kidnapping (and she would actually have had a good reason for that what with the trauma and all). He wanted to apologise immediately, maybe even tell her about Elisabetta, although he didn't really wanted to talk about it yet, but she was out of the door at the speed of lightning.

-"Damn, damn, damn"- he said to himself and after a few more swears, he resolved to at least maintain a happy façade at work so Morgan could stop worrying about him, he certainly didn't deserve it, and people would eventually backedk off of helping him. Why couldn't they leave his sorry ass alone?

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

She wasn't sure what was Finn's poison of choice so she bought some whisky brands like Dyc and J&B, vodka, white and red wine and some more stuff. Boy, she was going to have her alcohol cupboard full to the brims. They wouldn't think she was an alcoholic if the bottles were still full she thought half-jokingly.

At first they had planned to go to dinner and then clubbing but Morgan thought a club would be too noisy to really have a conversation and convinced the others that after eating, some drinks and conversation relaxing at her house were just what they needed after such a busy week.

The restaurant that Sarah had picked was excellent and the Parmesan Eggplant and Vegetable Lasagne they shared were scrumptious. She wasn't about to give up eating meat but if vegetarian food was this good, she could understand how they could not miss eating pork, poultry or beef.

They talked about the last case each had been working before deciding to move on to her house.

* * *

-"I didn't know what you guys wanted to drink so I've bought a bit of everything. Don't worry about driving back. You can stay here overnight. I have enough fluffy PJs"-she chuckled at the funny face Sarah did at the fluffy pyjamas suggestion.

She opened the door and they entered her apartment. She had managed to get it neat and tidy putting all that she didn't have time to order or clean inside her closet. After the ritual tour of her small living space and some "oh"s and "ah"s and "how nice"s Sarah took the apricot orange armchair and Finn and herself took each a corner of the deep red sofa she had gotten from Ikea.

-"What do you want to drink?-she offered them.

-"What do you think about Margaritas?"- suggested Finn and Morgan's eyes shone with happiness at the mention of the Tequila drink.

-"I'm in"- she said in a hyper manner while she jumped out of her seat to get the salt, glasses and other implements needed. Sarah just chuckled at her eagerness and nodded in affirmation. With the glasses salted and the tequila poured, they started sipping pretty good Margaritas if she could say so herself.

They started gossiping a bit about Henry's new girlfriend, how Dave was worried his wife wanted to adopt a kitten because of his allergies and imagining him doing autopsies sneezing all the way. Morgan suggestions they played Uno or Jenga weren't well received until the second round of Margaritas were halfway done and then their lack of coordination moving the wooden blocks made it pretty funny even if they did already find everything hilarious because they were kind of tipsy. They made a penalty to drink a big gulp every time someone collapsed the small construction and Morgan had counted on having a lot of experience playing to keep sober... well at least more sober than them. The plan was a bit of a bust because Sarah Siddle was beating them completely. Actually she didn't appear tipsy at all and her movements were very precise. Finn lost the most but Morgan lost his fair share too.

-"Not fair Sarah. You are too good"- she whined.

-"Who was that said she wanted to play? I am just simply the best"- she put on a mock superior smirk.

-"Oh, you"- Finn and Morgan teamed to hit her with the cushions. The three were soon giggling and out of air. Then they returned to their seats and there was a comfortable silence while they recovered their breath and, comfortable on their seats and sipped at their nth drinks.

-"What's happening with Hodges?"-blurted Morgan without thinking to phrase it in a better way or simply mind the moment- "I mean, he is being kind of sad lately but he isn't talking about it with anyone".

-"That's true. Nick told me they had tried inviting him for drinks and other stuff but he keeps rebuffing them with excuses".

-"I really haven't noticed much"-there was a lisp in Finn's voice. Morgan didn't know if it was for the alcohol or for having to lie.

-"That's bullshit"- obviously more-than-tipsy-drunk Morgan wasn't smooth- "you've been avoiding him like he's got the bubonic plague and you can't even look him directly in the eyes".

-"Why would I want to be a lot of time around him or look him in the eye. He is not my type"- she tried to deflect with a joke.

Sarah was looking from one to the other curious as to what must have been going under the scenes to get to this conversation.

-"I know that you know what's happening with Hodges so please tell me"

-"What does it have to do with you? It's something private and if he doesn't want to share, it's his business".

-He is my best friend and he's suffering. I know him very well and I know that he can be completely pig-headed and refuse help but if I know what's happening, maybe there's something I can do"- she pleaded to Finn.

-"Okay"- she sighed heavily- "I warn you that I'm not a hundred percent sure that I'm right. Do you remember when Elisabetta came to the lab because I advised Hodges to take a more active role in planning the wedding?

-"Yes"- Of course, the vivid memory of her conversation with Hodges and how she had told him to marry the person without whom he couldn't live sometimes haunted her.

-"Well, I entered when they were in the middle of a discussion about the desserts and opened my big mouth and told them they were similar to my ex-husband and me. What a better thing to say to a couple about to marry!"- she seemed to be a minute away from banging her head against a wall- "They also talked about how she wanted to bring up their kids in Italy and how he didn't want to abandon his career. From everything I saw and the subsequent gloominess of a certain lab technician, I think the wedding has been called off and they've split up because they were incompatible and I feel kind of responsible... even if it's probably for the best that they've realised this before getting married".

-"What?!"- she couldn't believe what she was hearing and the emotions that were flowing through her quickly changing from one to the next got had her totally in a shock state. She was bewildered at the unexpected news, then sad for Hodges but at the same time elated which made her confused because she didn't understand why she got so happy at the news since Elisabetta hadn't been a bad person looking for a green card and angry at herself for feeling good about her friend's despair. Finally she got furious with him for not telling her when she had always had done so and confided in him when she was in a crisis, the alcohol fuelling her feelings.- "How could he not tell me? Damn him"- Then the alcohol and the emotional roller-coast of having so many emotions in so few seconds took its toll and she got a bit weepy-"It's not fair. I've never shunned him when I was feeling vulnerable like when my father was shot"

-"Oh, girl"- Finn hugged her.

-"Come on, you've drunk enough. Tell me where are those fluffy PJs you were talking about before"- Sarah said taking the glasses to the kitchen.

They consoled her, perhaps a bit suspicious about why this was affecting her so much and with Finn more in the way than actually helping and after preventing her from drunk calling Hodges they put her to sleep and got a taxi together.

She kept thinking back and forth about how to get back at Hodges, how to help him get back on his feet after Elisabetta or how to forget about him forever. She fell asleep before deciding on anything.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I promised, new chappie para tú (Gru fans should know that that isn't exactly the correct way of saying for you in Spanish XD). Until next Thursday's repost!
> 
>   **\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**
> 
>   **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.
> 
> **A/N:** The next 40 days are going to be hell on Earth for me because I'll be super busy studying for my exams but for the few readers that might like my story, I hope to be able to keep updating once a week on Thursdays. Wish me luck!
> 
> Anyway, please review to tell me where I can do better and any suggestions on which ships would you like to see developed on this fic apart from Modges be they het, slash or femmeslash. All the internet cookies go to my two reviewers Dolcefarniente and ElislinCSI. Thanks for taking the time to encourage me.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

She was tied and gagged with a filthy rag. The room was dark and she was seated in a metallic chair that clanked whenever she moved. She was scared of doing so much noise he would return and kill her but she wanted to get out. Her eyes were getting used to the dark and she saw the silhouette of a body resting against the wall. Something was very wrong about the shape. Adrenaline rushed through her as she realised it had no head. She desisted of being cautious and started fighting against her restraints with all her force. They didn't budge and all she got was to fall to the floor making a loud bang and lacerating her hands against the hard surface. Then she heard it. Fast steps coming, more like angry quick strides. Fear gave way to panic as she started to hyperventilate trying to arch her head to get a good look at the door. Her heartbeats rang strong in her ears stifling the sound of the strong steps that grew nearer and nearer. She felt light-headed but she wasn't going to pass out, she couldn't do anything if she passed out. Pure fright almost made her heart stop when the door started to open. When the gun appeared in her vision she finally woke up screaming and trembling violently.

It took her five minutes to realise it was a nightmare and that the thumbing in her head wasn't because someone had hit her but because of how much she had drunk the night before. She was on the floor where she always seemed to end when she got up from one of the truly horrible ones. These nasty dreams had started a week after she left the hospital and were pretty regular. She tried to minimise them because who wouldn't have nightmares after being kidnapped and almost killed. The weird thing would be to not have them she told herself as a way to rationalise not going to a doctor or talking seriously about it with his dad. She didn't want them thinking she was too affected by the events and that she should see a psychiatrist or worse that they would decide she was best on desk duty out of the field for her own safety. Besides, she was sure that with enough time, the problem would fix itself on its own.

Morgan picked herself from the floor and sluggishly made her way to the medicine cabinet on her bathroom for an aspirin. She swallowed it with a big gulp of water before realising how very thirsty she was and refilling the glass again. Satiated she made her way to her queen sized bed with one of the worst headaches of her life and looked at the alarm clock. It was only 7:34 AM and she didn't even have a reason to get up early in the morning so she tried massaging her temples until the pain went away enough so that she could go back to slumberland.

As if to unnerve her, her next dream would be one that would vex her even more.

She had just solved her 100th case and was celebrating becoming a CSI Level 3 with everybody in the dinner across the Labs. Everybody was there congratulating her. They even had brought a really delicious looking strawberry cheesecake, her favourite. She should have been incredibly happy by all measures but David Hodges wasn't there and, in that stupid logic that dreams often have, she knew that if she didn't leave the party in that same instant and find him, she'd never see him again.

She excused herself with D.B. and the rest who seemed pretty let down she was leaving her own party but she said she had to do something important, more important than anything else in the world- wow melodramatism. She went to his lab and he wasn't there. She searched one by one all of the rooms and when she was about to give up she found a door she never remembered seeing.

Upon entering, she saw Hodges leaning against a bureau in what looked like a giant storage room filled with the most strange things from football equipment, piles of old books, a complete kitchen set, tons of little model airplanes, some machines she couldn't even recognise and a hundred equally baffling objects.

-"Hello Morgan. What took you so long? Welcome to my sanctum sanctorum"- Hodges said in his most adorably snobby impersonation- "I've been waiting for you. I've been waiting since the moment we first talked and I learned you were special"-his voice passed from playful to seductive-"since the moment we first joked together, you don't know what your laugh does to me Miss Brody"- his tone grew hungrier and Morgan's knees weaker- "since the moment you kissed me and melted me completely with your sweet mouth and I was fool enough to let it go"- he extended his hand to her- "and now you are finally here Morgan".

Questions like what was this place or what was going on flew from her mind or maybe they were never even there from the start. His words had inflamed something inside her and she ignored his hand preferring to grab him by the lapels of his lab coat and kiss him tentatively at first as if scared he would actually decide he really didn't want her. He reciprocated the kiss, tracing her cheek with one hand while with the other he embraced her bringing her closer to him. She deepened the kiss eager to really taste him and play hide and seek with his tongue. He moaned into her mouth and she felt herself burn with desire.

They separated to get some much needed air and Hodges started nibbling at her ear and playfully whispering her in detail how aroused she made him. From her ear, he descended to her neck giving it sensual licks and small bites that had her purring like a satisfied feline.

-"Uhmm Hodges"

-"It's David. Call me David or I'll stop"- he teased her.

Her befuddled brain didn't seem to be able to understand normal human language at the moment.

He started unbuttoning her shirt very very slowly while he gave her a smug smirk.

That was enough to make her brain catch up with the situation. She gave him a playful slap in the arm for his cheekiness.

-"You are a tease David"- she told him while embracing him to communicate how much she truly liked him.

Soon 'though the tender moment gave way to lust again and she was taking off his lab coat and shirt in the quest to feel more of his skin. Also it wasn't fair that he was completely dressed when she was only in her bra. She had seen him without his shirt once or twice but it still made her heart race a little faster to see his taut torso.

They kissed at times gently, other passionately and most of them like they didn't have any time left on this Earth. His kisses started going downwards her collarbone and he asked for permission to unclasp her lace bra which she gave more than willingly wanting to feel those lips encircling her nipples. The fact that she could feel how hard he was under those trousers only making her more eager. He didn't fumble with the clasp and got it open fast enough.

And just when he was lowering that hot luscious mouth, she woke up.

Soon it all came to her, the memories of last night, of waking up in the middle of the nightmare, the headache of biblical proportions and still she was aroused as hell but before she could even think about doing something about that, she glanced at the clock and realised that with the traffic in Las Vegas, she had half an hour to get showered, dressed up and ready to go if she wanted to get to work on time. She chugged some aspirin, probably more than the doctor recommended and got in the shower, a cold shower for her sexually frustrated body. Meanwhile she kept thinking about both dreams, their meaning and what should she fucking do.

-"Damn David Hodges"- she thought.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

That Saturday, Hodges had managed to escape an invitation to a friendly football game with Nick and Greg. Poor Henry hadn't been lucky enough to think a quick excuse to get out of it, but Hodges had said he needed to accompany his mother shopping and they had commiserated about how awful it was to go clothes shopping with women. He actually found it far more appealing than a sports match but he wasn't going to tell them that and give them more ammunition against him. And anyway it was actually just a lie to get the day for himself.

If he wanted to get better and stop worrying Morgan, he needed to move on.

As soon as he got home, he gathered all the bed clothing, towels and anything that smelled of Elisabetta and took it to the washer room in the building. Several quarters of dollars later, everything gave off a lemony scent. He spend the rest of the day combing the house of things that remembered him of her and putting them in a box or throwing them away. That night he prepared himself some comfort food with lots of butter and lots of chips and watched the first season of "Three's Company" which always put him on a good mood.

The next morning he felt a bit sad but, not willing to admit it. When it was time to go to work he put on his best clever smug bastard smile and took his car to work.

-"Today is going to be a great day"- he said out loud just before getting off the car and into the lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I tried to make the dream sequence a bit loony and weird but I hope that didn't detract from the sexiness. Was it hot? Should I up the rating to M or is it still pretty tame? Please review =)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Thursday so this is chapter 4 of the repost of my WIP!
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.
> 
> **A/N:** Here I am again procrastinating instead of studying. Yay me! *headdesk* On other topics that don't make me cringe, my muse has been eluding me. I know the general direction I want this tale to take but I'm having trouble filling in the gaps. Also, I want to do something more with the side characters of this little "romantic comedy" (although it has little humour and not enough romance at the moment) so if you have any ideas or suggestions like... I don't know... I want more of Greg, I want to see D.B.'s marriage collapsing (more than it already is on the show I mean) and that he falls in love with Fin, I want Catherine Willows or Grissom to be back and get in on with Sara/Nick/Henry/... I want someone to have/adopt/foster a kid, I want Warrick to return as a zombie and start the next Zombapocalypse or whatever and I'll see if it fits with the story and if I like it enough to include it.
> 
> I want to thank everybody who takes the time to read and specially to austexfan, sarahw78 and ElislinCSI for reviewing, following and/or favouriting my story. I love all of you!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Her brain felt like it had made a trip from a concrete mixer to a smoothie machine and then back. She knew it was probably more for the lack of quality rest these last months, despite having spent all day in bed, than because of the alcohol consumed so many hours ago, but she still made a mental note to swore off margaritas.

She actually had made it to the job in record time. She had taken a quick shower, put on a black tee with letters in Japanese or Chinese in a cool font, an azure blouse, dun jeans and some comfy sandals and out she went. There was no line when she picked up a veggie burger with extra chips and some coffee and she put on the classic rock radio while she munched on it on the way to work. She got a hat trick of green lights and she was soon inside the well known walls of Las Vegas Crime Lab.

She saw some familiar faces of the swing shift CSIs that were preparing to leave to get some much needed sleep and she made her way to take a look to see what was on the menu tonight.

Some cases would probably come later but there was already a robbery and a double murder. Working this job certainly made you lose any sensation of safety you could have or of the invulnerability young people were supposed to feel. Morgan couldn't quite remember if she had ever being so naive as to think she couldn't really die but she did feel she had lost something since the kidnapping. She wasn't the same, she was harder but she also felt she had become more twisted. Her nightmares were getting darker and she didn't know what to do and that frightened her. What if this made her like her captors? Still, that train of thought didn't lead to anywhere good so she dropped it. She was scared of what she might discovered if she or anyone else for that matter kept digging.

She decided to go to the break room to relax until the rest of the gang arrived. When she passed by the Trace Lab she saw Hodges and Henry lively discussing about something and the erotic dream and everything else came to the forefront of his thoughts. She stared at his back with eyes like daggers for a second or two before moving on and if looks could kill, the paramedics would be late for this one... so so late.

She knew he hadn't told everyone about the cancellation of his wedding because he didn't want their pity but she wasn't everyone and she was royally pissed off at him but she wasn't going to go over there to tell him what she thought right now. On the one hand, they were at work and she was professional so she wasn't going to go to his lab and scream at him at the top of her lungs to stop being a petulant child and trust in other people when you have a problem because you are being a dumbass to the people who care about you. No matter how appealing the idea was. On the other hand... that erotic dream had her still a bit messed up at the moment. It had felt very real and a shiver ran through her spine as the scenes replayed through her head. She couldn't fault Hodges for her own dream but she was starting to feel like she would need a cold shower every time she would see him during this night and that didn't make her very happy precisely. "Oh, what a joy of shift this one was going to be"- she thought to herself.

* * *

Greg and Finn were already in the break room. He was nibbling at a pencil while looking at a half done Hard Level sudoku in the newspaper in front of him while Finn was looking through the files of a case.

-"Hey guys!"- she greeted them- "Are you looking through the backlog Finn?"

-"Nah, just checking the paperwork before I give it to D.B."- she answered- "you look kind of pale. Hangover from all those margaritas we drank? Are you feeling fine?"- she asked in a light-hearted tone.

-"Not really, I'm feeling okay. Maybe I'm just getting a cold" -she answered briskly to end that line of questioning- "how about you, did you get a hangover the next morning?"

-"Oh, not at all"- she grinned- "you'd need far more than that to get this veteran drunk or with a hungover".

Morgan decided to omit that Finn had indeed been inebriated the other night to preserve the older CSI pride intact and just chuckled.

All this talk had awoken Greg's interest.

-"Aww, you had a party and you didn't invited us?"- he pretended to be offended and almost pouted- "You meanies".

-"Come on, it was a Girls' Night Out and you boys didn't invite us to the Football match you had either"- Morgan teased him back.

-"Oh, a Girls' Night, what did you do? Paint each other nails, watch romantic comedies and criticise the men in your life?"- despite the mocking angle of the question he seemed really interested.

-"You are lucky there aren't any pillows around to throw at you Greg"- she threatened.

-"He is kind of right 'though, isn't he Morgan? Remember the list we did grading all the men in the Lab?"- she signalled her under the table not to spoil the joke.

-"And how did I do?"- asked Greg with eagerness. He had swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker.

-"You got 98, top marks, the best of all the Lab. Nick was the runner up with 86"- she told him. Morgan was trying not to look at him because it as getting hard to keep a straight face when he was buying it wholesale.

-"Seriously?!"- he asked over excited and they both started to laugh.

-"No, of course not"- Finn told him between chuckles- "We are not 15 year old girls Greg. We don't do stuff like that".

Greg had the look of someone who had just discovered his favourite surfboard had been eaten by sharks so Morgan took pity on him and stopped laughing.

Nick and Sara chose that moment to enter the room discussing about a missing person's case they were investigating together.

-"Hey guys. what's up?"- said Nick with a big smile. He was in full spirits today.

Finn was still laughing a bit so it only took them a minute to learn what it was all about.

-"Finn, don't be so cruel with the poor guy"- said Sara barely stifling a chuckle.

-"I deserve it for buying it"- interjected Greg. He had already let go of the embarrassment and all of them ended up joking about it.

-"You aren't a sore loser at all".

-"You really know how to take jokes".

-"What a nice stand up guy".

-"Guys, you are going to make me blush"- Greg said under the outpouring of compliments from the girls.

-"Yes, stop it"- Nick quipped- "his ego is going to get bigger than this building".

-"Hey"- Greg started to take offense but D.B. chose that moment to arrive.

-"It seems we are going to have a hard night. Nick and Sara, continue with your case. I heard you managed to locate the body of the disappeared man. Good job!"- he congratulated them- "Greg, you go to the robbery of the house in 103 Granger Road. Brass will meet you there. The family is pretty shaken up so he has been having trouble getting something productive out of them. Let's hope the evidence you collect there helps."- he was like a good military sergeant giving clear and easy to understand orders- "Finn and Sara, go to the double homicide in 27 Vermillion Avenue. This is a pretty nasty case, a woman and a 10 year old child. Dave is already on his way and the police officer in charge of the case is Officer Mitchell. I'll stay here to manage the Fort and in case I'm needed in another scene. Call me if you need any back up".

They all scattered and went to prepare themselves and take their kits. Once everything was ready, they headed for the cars.

-"I call dibs on driving!"

-"Weren't you just saying not 20 minutes ago that you weren't a 15 years old?"- Morgan teased her.

-"Please"- she begged.

-"Okay, but then I pick the music".

-"Deal".

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

As soon as he set foot in the building, Henry latched at him like he was water in the dessert. He wanted to tell him all about the evening with the guys. It was actually quite nice that despite how much of a pain in the ass he had been this past weeks... and well almost always, Henry still came to him with this kind of stuff and considered him his friend. No matter how much he might complain about him out loud, he appreciated him... although he'd never admit it publicly.

-"And I actually did get a touchdown"- Henry was grinning from ear to ear.

-"Are you sure you didn't score because the others thought it was a time-out or they stopped to drink water or something similar so they weren't defending?"- he couldn't resist trying to tease him.

-"What? No. Actually Nick said he was going to have to get serious"- Henry replied proudly.

-"Well. Congratulations then".

-"And then later we went to some bar Greg knew to have beers and..."

Suddenly he felt a prickly sensation on his back like a bug was crawling up his neck and he turned around to see nothing. Just a small flash of blue in the corner of his eye.

Henry continued telling him about his weekend until Sara and Nick came along to ask how the samples they'd taken from the site of their case were going.

-"I know I'm a genius but even I am not that fast. The Mass Spectrometer needs time."- he said in feigned annoyance.

-"So... you have nothing?"- asked Nick trying to play at his pride.

-"Well, I did some additional tests and I can tell you that in the soil samples 6, 11, 12 and 13 there were traces of iron and sulphur but I don't know if that will be very usefu..."

-"Oh great! I have an idea"- said Nick and they both left the lab quickly.

-"I hate when they do that".

-"You and me man"- said Henry while leaving for his own space.

Now, free from distractions, he continued processing the evidence. The repetitive process left his mind wander and he started wondering if he would see Morgan soon. Would she still be mad at him? He suddenly felt the compulsion to go to the break room with any excuse just to get a look at her and see how she was doing. It seemed like a capricious god had listened to him because just in that moment he saw Morgan and Finn going to the garage. She was as beautiful as always in that nice blue blouse and that shirt that said Rock & Roll in Katakana but she looked like she was feeling ill.

He passed the next few hours worried about her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Th-th-th-that's all folks! At least for this week. I'm sorry that not much happened in this chapter and that the story is going so slow. Again thank you so much for taking the time to read and I hope I can interest you in that rectangular box just below that says "Type your review" XD Have a really nice weekend!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Thursday so this is chapter 5 of the repost of my WIP! I'm not feeling very original today =P
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.
> 
> **A/N:** So it's Thursday again and here it is a new chapter that I'll hope you'll like. We've gotten to the point in the story when I try to write a case and fail/succeed/something in between? You can tell me in your reviews. Also, as always, I encourage you to tell me in them if you have any suggestions about any other ships apart from Modges you'd like to see or something else. I'm going to try to write some chapters beforehand to post during the next few weeks as I'll probably won't have time to write them and have time to study and procrastinate and procrastinatin... I mean studying is very important.
> 
> Thanks to all my readers and specially to Dolcefarniente and ElislinCSI for taking the time to give me their opinons on last chapter. Internet bear hugs for all.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Soon they arrived to the scene where a pair of police cars were parked, their blue and red lights projecting themselves on the white surfaces of the buildings around. There was an uniform waiting for them at the door of the upscale apartment house to take them to their destination. He seemed a bit green about the gills so Morgan mentally prepared herself for what they might be about to see. The corridor walls were as typical and bland as any other in the area. A boring beige decorated with scant figurative paintings and what she imagined were plastic orchids, trying way too hard to be minimalist and sober, but at the same time mark it as luxurious.

The door was ajar and, inside, the hall showed signs of fight with a broken vase and some blood stains on the furniture and gravitational drops on the floor. It looked like the criminal had gained entrance with some ruse and once inside had resorted to violence to overpower the victim. The next room presented a more gruesome scene.

Two lifeless bodies were posed on the 3-seat couch, one a middle age woman in slacks and a blouse and a little kid in a soccer uniform. Both had been decapitated and had their own heads over their laps. Each one had also received a single gunshot to the back of the head execution style so she hoped the beheading had been after they were dead. The ten year old child seemed to have a lot more injuries than the woman with her face disfigured with cuts and the subsequent bleeding. Damn, that hadn't been post-mortem. Dave was taking the liver temperature of the mother that had a broken lip and a swollen eye and her wrists had nasty ligature marks.

She had a small flashback. The feeling of being restrained and not being able to move. Her heart started racing but she shook it off swiftly because there was work to do. She could freak out later when nothing important was going on. She forced herself to keep examining the scene.

In the centre of the room there was a fallen chair, some cut rope and two large blood pools. There was a bookcase next to the wall and it seemed to have been ransacked in search of something. There was a mahogany table with colourful drawings and some crayons to the opposite side from where they had come. Next to it there was a door to the rest of the house and some policemen were on that corner having a conversation.

Officer Mitchell stopped talking with one of his men as soon as he saw they were there and, trying not to step on any blood stain or any other kind of valuable evidence, he made his way to them.

-"Hello CSI Brody, CSI Finlay"- he courteously greeted them- "A neighbour called it in one hour ago when he saw the door half open and went inside to check. The vomit you see in that corner is his dinner and maybe his lunch too by the size of it. He identified the victims as his neighbours Vanessa and Jennifer Clegane. All the valuable stuff is still in here as far as we know, but the room is ransacked so we don't know what were the perpetrators looking for in this house".

-"Yay, puke contaminating the scene"- Finn exclaimed with mock enthusiasm.

-"At least it's mostly on the perimeter of the room"- Morgan tried to console her and moved on to continue the conversation- "What did the neighbour tell you about the victims?"

-"The family consisted of Martin Clegane, his wife Vanessa and their daughter Jennifer and they had been living here for 4 years. He said that he mostly saw the mom and the daughter in the last few months and everything seemed okay. The last time he saw them, the three of them were about to go have dinner out three nights ago"- he informed them- "We haven't been able to contact the father and we still have to canvass the building for statements from the other tenants".

-"We'll take some photos and comb the scene. Let's see if we can catch the animal who did this"- concluded Finn- "What do you prefer Morgan, the living room or the perimeter and the other rooms?"

-"Last time I did the perimeter so this time I'm taking the primary scene"- she said trying to sound convinced she could take it.

-"Time to start photographing then"- Finn gave her a reassuring smile.

-"Well, I'll let you to it. There's an officer posted outside in case you need anything"- said Officer Mitchell as his farewell.

With that, they each went to do their job. Digital cameras at the ready, they proceeded to document with the maximum possible detail the awful event.

There were many photos of the happy family in the living room. A 5 years old with long blonde hair opening her Christmas present. The couple, he a 40 year old tall strawberry blonde man, she a 42 year old petite brunette. The man and the woman holding a baby, both all smiles posing for a family portrait. A 7 year old blonde tomboy in her soccer uniform with a big grin on her face. That same girl a bit older in a picture with all her soccer team, all vibrant with energy in their muddied shirts and shorts. The most recent one featured the parents with the girl with short boy haircut but clap on earrings and in a dress for another family portrait.

It gave a disgusting voyeuristic feeling to watch and record the most intimate aspects of a person even if the person was dead and it was to catch their killer. Morgan had started to feel that way when she herself had been the victim and, although she had been more than happy to help, the uncomfortable feelings had been there and the idea had been planted on her psyche.

The corpses had been taken from the scene after being photographed and just two dark stains on the brown couch and duct tape marked the place where they had been. Now it was the time to recollect any fiber or trace the killers had left because no matter how careful they were, something had to appear. Sample after sample were recollected, the living room meticulously searched.

After finishing, a working theory was forming itself in her brain, although it was too early to tell if it was in any way close to the truth. She thought that the mother had been tied up to the chair and interrogated using hurting the child as a bargaining chip. As the mother couldn't tell them what they needed, they cut the face of the kid more and more until they finally realised that she knew nothing and they killed them and posed them to send a message. To the father perhaps? It was nothing solid at the moment since at this point they still hadn't processed the evidence. She hoped that after Finn's analysis of the blood, they'd be closer to uncovering what had gone down and be able to catch the culprits. She hoped catching these people soon would prevent the nightmares she knew this was going to provoke.

Finn got her out of her thoughts:

-"Hey! I'm done and I'm going back to the Lab. Have you finished? Do you want to come with me or are you taking a ride with one of the uniforms?- she asked.

-"No, no. I'm going back with you but this time I drive"- she said trying to joke a bit to diffuse the tense atmosphere of working such a hard scene.

-"Not a chance. Be happy I've asked you to come along. Your taste in music sucks"- she teased back.

-"Hey!"- she gave her a soft punch on the arm and they continued bickering on the way to work.

* * *

**Hodge's POV**

He had really gotten into his work to forget about his worries. They had a lot of work today. He hadn't even seen Henry since they talked at the start of the shift. He hadn't taken any break either so it would usually had been a super productive day but it certainly wasn't the case.

Today his mind didn't deign to follow his commands and in fact dared to completely defy him no matter what he tried. He even had kind of a mantra that he repeated inside his head every time the topic of Morgan resurfaced:

-"Morgan is okay, she is a strong woman who can take care of herself".

The problem was that sometimes it was more like this:

-"Morgan is okay... _I hope_.. no, no she's really okay, she's a strong _and beautiful_ woman who can take care of herself.. _but what if she can't? what if she needs help?_ ... well even if she can't, she will ask for it... _what if she doesn't?_... ... I can't well go meddle when I just told her she should mind her own business and leave me alone.. _then you are an ass_... !

His subconscious wasn't really polite it would seem. Still after a few more mental back and forth, he actually convinced himself and started being more efficient. He thought he actually had cracked the case in which Nick and Sara were working. He sent a message to each of the CSIs asking anyone of them to come. Nick soon came to hear what he'd found.

-"What do you have for me?"- He asked congenially.

-"The assault has to have been at a farm in a very small area called Celebé Desert where there are some mines but just one single farm"- he said triumphally.

-"Oh man. I should have told you we already knew that. We already found it was in that farm and Sara went to check it while I waited on the tests and scoured the footage from the ATM in front of the victims house"-he told him sheepishly-"She just phoned me that they arrested the suspect but he refuses to talk".

In other circumstances that would have been a coup de grace and he'd been grumbling the rest of the day but not today.

-"Oh, and you know that one of you didn't realise that there was saliva in the fabric fragment you gave me of the victim. Not long ago I sent it to Henry so soon you'll have proof to send the man to prison for a long long time".

-"That's so great I could almost hug you"

-"Please, refrain yourself"- Hodges' face clearly transmitted how not pleasant the idea was to him.

-"I was just kidding. Good job man"- he said giving him a hard pat on the back that almost sent him tumbling.

Thinking that maybe if he could know what Morgan was doing, he might stop being so damn fretful- it was unbecoming of him! He wasn't like that- he asked:

-"Do you know what case is Morgan working?"- he managed to say it sounding normal- "ah, I mean, I want to know what type of case it is to know what type of samples ahm to expect and this shift we've had lots of work and uh I wondered if there was going to be a lot more". _Smooth_

Luckily he didn't appear to notice it or maybe he was being a good friend and pretending not to realise the real reason of his question.

-"All powerful Hodges can't handle 10 or 20 samples more"- he teased him- "Don't worry, it's the double murder of the woman and the kiddo so it's inside an apartment with lots of blood. Henry is the one who is going to sweat it. It's a pretty gruesome murder 'though. I've heard the police officers speaking of severed heads and torture but I'm sure the girls can handle it".

Hodges' cortisol and adrenaline levels shot through the roof. He managed to finish the chit chat with Nick and gave himself a minute or two to privately freak out. He always got anxious when Morgan got a bad case after the kidnapping, worrying how it might affect her and if she really was totally okay but seeing her sickly pallid today, the hours of getting all worked up by himself and the specially macabre nature of the case had him really agitated. He tried the "mantra" again:

-"Morgan is okay. Morgan is okay. Morgan... _stop deluding yourself, you don't really believe that_... and then, what do I do? ... _You go ask her in an educated and compassionate manner and you get a bit pushy if it's necessary_... and what if she won't want to listen because as I said to myself I'm an ass... _you tell her how you've always felt about her and ask_... no, no, never, I'm never being that vulnerable again... ... _well, then you apologise and hope she accepts it_... but if she doesn't acc... _FUCKING GO ASK HER AND THEN YOU CAN COMPLAIN IF IT FAILS_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** My OOC characters are a tiny bit nuts... as if you already didn't know XD I'm sorry for publishing it later than usual. I hope you have an awesome weekend.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I've been re-checking the chapters  for cross-posting, I've found such gems as substituting eyes with ears as in there were red rims around zie ears instead of eyes. Ouch. Or realising that it makes no f*cking sense that Officer Mitchell is doing the work of a Detective but I've decided not to fix that because it would take way too much effort and probably confuse some of you =P  
>   
>  **\----------------------------------------------------------------------**  
>   
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.
> 
> **A/N:** Tomorrow I have an exam and I haven't studied nearly enough. Then I have another on Monday. I feel like the worst person in the world writing fanfics instead of studying but I promised a chapter every Thursday and I don't want to disappoint you, my incredibly awesome readers. I hope I don't sound too much like a suck up but the truth is that seeing people reading and enjoying my story makes me very very happy so I send you all the bear hugs in the world. Special thanks to Dolcefarniente for reviewing and SBDGirl88 for giving me a follow. Don't forget to review people, I like to hear your opinions. On with the show!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Finn found them an empty room to start classifying it all. They had an incredible amount of DNA samples, tons of photographs and lifted prints, various fibers and human hair and some soil samples from near the door. Obviously the criminal or criminals didn't bother cleaning their shoes and they joked about dirty shoes being the damnations of wanna-be evil masterminds. They still hadn't gotten the video footage of the ATM in front of the building. There was plenty to do but they made a good team so it didn't take them long to finish.

-"Finn, do you mind taking the samples to the Trace and DNA Labs? I'll run the prints in AFIS"- she said as nonchalantly as possible.

-"What? Are you now avoiding Hodges too?"- she said joking about her behaviour these few weeks after "ruining" the wedding.

-"No, I just... "- she started. She was making a damn bad job keeping her feelings to herself today.

-"Oh, I'm sorry if what I said has spoiled your friendship with Hodges. I really didn't mean that. As a pain in the ass he can sometimes be, I like him"- she tried to apologise.

-"It's not your fault. I thought David and I were friends and I thought he trusted me enough to tell me something this big. I guess I was wrong. I just need some time for myself right now"-she tried to reassure her. She hadn't exactly lied... but what was left out could fill a not so small diary.

-"Shit. It seems creating drama is becoming my forte"- Before she could continue talking, their beepers sounded and they were informed that the father, Martin Clegane, had been reached and was sitting on an interrogation room waiting for Officer Mitchell and one of them to take elimination prints and DNA swabs.

Morgan offered to go. Meeting a distraught parent wasn't very pleasant but it would give them valuable information.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He tried very hard not to let it show how disappointed he was when it was Finn who brought in the samples to analyse. Nick had been right it wasn't a lot of extra work for his already bulky workload.

-"Hey Hodges? How's the work treating you today? Is there a lot of backlog or can we expect to get our results soon and with the high quality you have gotten us used to?"

-"Stop trying to butter me up"- he pretended to feel offended. He was actually quite glad that she seemed to be back to treating him like a normal co-worker and not like he could turn into a flailing mess in an instant and it was all her fault. After all, it really wasn't- "I don't do favouritism. You'll get your results when your turn in the queue comes up".

Actually he was already going to put a rush on it but he wasn't planning on admitting it to her. He decided to sneak it before Greg's stuff. After all what he didn't know... he couldn't get angry about.

-"Okay, okay but please, this is important. We need to know if the mud was carried there by the criminal or if one of the victims just forgot to clean their shoes. The wife and the kid both had street shoes on that were clean but there two pairs of muddy shoes inside a sports bag. If the dirt is from the criminal shoes 'though and it is characteristic enough, it will save us because right now the only lead we have it's on the father and I can't think of a normal reason why a father would torture their family, kill them execution style and behead them. It's just bizarre".

-"Don't worry. You'll have your results _pronto_ "- he rubbed his hands nervously and asked- "How is Morgan? I hope this case isn't stirring bad memories?"

-"I think she is fine but you should ask her yourself"- she said not looking him in the eye... again with that *sigh*-"You really should talk to her soon".

-"What's wrong Finn?"- he was starting to get alarmed.

-"I don't want to drop the ball again. I'll be back later"- she turned to leave but took compassion and told him- "I'll try to get her to come next time but I can't promise you anything".

The word "again" had never had such an air of fatality.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Martin looked almost exactly like in the pictures on the mantelpiece of the living room. Time had given him some creases around the eyes but it actually made him more handsome, in a George Clooney or Richard Gere way. Still it wasn't what she had imagined, not at all. He looked cold and restrained staring at the wall deep in thought. The glass of water near him barely touched. He didn't have red marks around his eyes or any other signal of having been crying. Maybe he was just a stoic man. The other possibility, that this man had murdered his wife and daughter in such a cruel manner made her shiver.

"Hello again"- Larry Mitchell appeared from behind her- "We've just gotten all the data on this fella on the record. There's some domestic dispute calls in here. They are from 8-10 months ago. Thanks to that, we've got his prints on the database. There's also something strange about his finances. How can a guy who works in a low level office post keep that kind of apartment? Anyway, I want to keep him in the dark as much as possible, just in case he gives himself away by saying something he shouldn't know. Are you okay with the plan?

-"Sure"- she easily acquiesced. She was still staring at the man brooding and he was creeping her a bit.

Officer Mitchell opened the door and Martin snapped back to reality and greeted them.

-"Mr Clegane. This is CSI Brody and she is here to take a swab of you nose or oral cavity to take a DNA sample to use as elimination samples. It's just standard procedure.

-"First tell me what's going on. You told me my wife and daughter were dead. How did it happen? Can I see them?"- he asked

-"We believe they were murdered. Right now they are waiting to be autopsied"-Mitchell stated in a calm manner.

Morgan thought she saw Martin flinch but in the blink of an eye he was back to normal and she started doubting she had seen it at all.

-"That's impossible"- his expression of surprise didn't ring entirely true to her ears- "who would murder a housewife and a child?"- as logical as that statement was, the living room of his house negated it whether he knew it or not.

-"You are remarkably calm for someone who has just lost his wife and kid"- Mitchell started to goad him- "What were you doing between 6 PM and 8 PM this evening Mr Clegane? Why none of your neighbours recall seeing you around these past 7 months until three weeks ago and why couldn't we locate you earlier tonight?"

-"What the...?!"- he barely managed to contain his outrage-"So I had problems with my wife and we were separated the past half a year but we were getting there".

-"So where were you while your family was being murdered?"- Mitchell was trying hard to get a raise out of him.

He got up and banged on the table.

-"Don't fucking kid with me"- he snarled-"I wasn't there because she kicked me out 2 days ago for not attending one damn counselling session".

Mitchell got up and made him sit.

-"Do you think you can intimidate me? Do you need an anger management course? What were you doing at the time of the murder? Answer the damn question.

-"You want to know what I was fucking doing? Yesterday I was at a dive bar getting drunk. When you called I was passed out so I didn't hear the damn telephone".

One second he seemed to be about to tear everything around down out of pure rage or frustration and the next he had managed to compose himself again. The man was a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in designer clothes and a cold exterior.

-"I don't have to collaborate with you. If you aren't going to tell me what happened, I want to get out there to find out what I can"-he asserted calm again- "so charge me or let me go. My very expensive lawyer will be very happy if you decide to charge me and until he is present, I'm not saying anything or giving you my DNA"- as he said this, he wiped his glass clean with a baby blue handkerchief.

* * *

-"I think that guy is a sociopath, We were telling him his entire family was dead and we might as well having been telling him tomorrow was going to be rainy"- Larry told her.

Clegane had already left the premises with a warning not to leave the city. It was too early to charge him. They didn't have enough evidence.

-"I don't know, that might have been the shock. I think I saw him react when he found out they were murdered".

-"I didn't see that. I read guilt in his face"- he was pretty convinced- "Well, if it's him, we'll prove it. I'm going to see if we have finally managed to recover the video from the ATM or any other cameras in the vicinity. At the moment we haven't had much luck with CCTV.

-"Good luck"- she encouraged him with a grin.

-"You too"- he returned in kind.

* * *

Finn had finished scanning all the fingerprints and was "knee deep" into the blood patterns. Her eyes had a special glint when she was trying to solve the puzzle that were blood stains, gravitational drops, smears and all the millions combinations of them and more. She looked up from the photographs when she heard her approaching.

-"Hey. How did it go?"- she questioned with curiosity.

-"It was weird. The man was creepily calm"- she elaborated- "Officer Mitchell is a hundred percent sure he is the guy"- There was a "but"-shaped short silence before Finn filled it:

-"But you don't think so"- she completed the sentence for her.

-"Most murders of women are committed by a partner or former partner and he seemed to feel a certain amount of guilt so I know many things point to him. It's just that he seemed genuinely shocked for a second when he found out they were murdered and that he could be feeling guilty about other stuff like not going to the therapy sessions he had promised to attend so she kicked him out, or at least that's the reason he has given us, and because of that he wasn't there to protect them or maybe it's something more mundane like having cheated on his spouse".

-"Then, let's get to work!"-Finn was pretty enthusiastic since studying the distribution of that precious red fluid was her area and she was damn good at it- "By the way, Hodges just paged me that he might have some results for us. I know you didn't want to see him but, as you see, I'm pretty busy right now, and moreover, you are co-workers so it's important you can work together".

-"I hate it when you are right"- she half-grumbled. Well, she'd swing by quickly and go watch the autopsy afterwards.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He had believed Finn was just humouring him when she said she was going to convince Morgan to come so he barely believed his eyes when he saw her coming. Part of him was starting to wonder if she was mad about something else apart form their little argument the other day... After all Morgan wasn't the over-reaction type of person and she usually prefered to confront stuff directly, pushing, pushing and pushing, so avoiding him seemed a bit out of character.

-"Good morning". he said smiling and trying to be charismatic... perhaps he should have gotten a mail course called "Learn to be Charismatic in 12 easy lessons" because he failed miserably.

-"Hi"- she answered curtly- "do you have something for me?"

-"We can situate one of the samples in 25 square miles of desert"- he told her

-"That's very good. Thanks".

-"Listen"- he started- "I wanted to apologise about the other day. I'm sorry I was a sarcastic ass"- everything seemed to be going well since Morgan had even smiled as she nodded when he called himself an ass- "You are my best friend and I trust you"- and with that he messed it up big time but he didn't even knew how.

-"What?"- she looked at him with incredulity and exasperation- "You say you trust me? You haven't even told me what was wrong with you. Your best friend?! Right... If that's the way it is, I don't even know if I want to be your friend. You asked me to leave you alone and that's what I'm doing. After leaving me aside you don't get the right to say stuff like that".

Her pager went off and when she looked at it, her eyes got as big as plates.

-"Morgan... I"- he was at a loss of words. It always happened to him in moments like this.

Morgan's answer was to turn the pager around so he could read the message:

**Misidentification** **. The child is male.**

His head swarmed with questions from how could that have happened or why it took everybody so long to realise the mistake. Still there were two that were way more pressing:

Where was Jennifer and who was there on the Morgue?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** How many of you saw it coming? By the way, the first time I wrote that Hodges "was going to put a tush on it". That certainly made for some funny mental images XP Typos like that are the best kind. It _almost_ makes you sad to correct them XD I'm so sleepy, I hope I didn't commit too many mistakes because of it... although I always do, and that's how I got to be known as the TypoQueenTM XP People who prefer romance over cases, are you getting pissed off? You can tell me in a review! This chapter was a bit larger than others but the next one will probably be a bit shorter so I hope they compensate each other! Have a good weekend and wish me lots of luck on my exams!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thursday comes again and I'm posting Chapter 7 here and writing Chapter 20 or trying to do it... I hope you guys are having a nice week!
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.
> 
> **A/N:** I'm writing this chappie in the last minute. I'm a bad lazy ass fanfic writer XD but part of the reason was that my muse was eluding me and it's still not home to inspire me or at least kick me in the ass to be more productive. The other part is that studying sucks away my creativity and I have a pair of very very very hard exams next week.
> 
> Did you like the reveal that the child victim wasn't the daughter of the man they were interrogating? Talking about last chapter, I hope you are enjoying the case because there's still quite a bit of it left. I've tried to keep it interesting but I'm certainly no part of the CSI writing crew so bear with me. I'm trying to make the relationship between the characters develop as organically as possible with a side dish of drama but I think it's going as smoothly as a rock to the face. Thank you to my new and old reviewers and all the people who've decided to follow or favourite my fanfic. You are the best. Well, have a nice day sweeties!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

David had managed to piss her off royally. It seemed it was the result of all their interactions lately and she didn't like that but... how could he shut her out and then approach her like this in the middle of this nightmarish case. She was tired of this hot and cold game and she told him off. She didn't know what she wanted anymore but this wasn't it.

It all became irrelevant when her pager went off and it was like a ton of bricks had fallen on top of her. Their victim wasn't who they thought he was and now not only they would have to tell another family they had lost a child but there was a little girl missing, probably kidnapped. Another child lonely and scared in who knows what god forsaken place. Why did it have to be a case like this? She was still a bit troubled by the memories of her own kidnapping and she didn't feel strong enough. Still, the present required her right now, she didn't have time to dawdle in the past, and she had to tell Hodges and everybody else about this before going to the Morgue to find out more.

She just showed the message to him who seemed just as taken aback as she was and left the Lab with a promise to return later to learn more about the results and a curt farewell. She didn't turn her head because she didn't want to see him looking at her all worried. It would make her feel bad for telling him off.

* * *

It was a short walk to the Morgue. She spent it calling Larry Mitchell and Finn. The latter told her that Henry had confirmed that all the DNA samples belonged to only two people, the victims. The conversation with the former was a bit more complicated:

-"Hi, this is CSI Brody".

-"Hey. Do you have something new on the case?"- he inquired- "We still haven't gotten anything conclusive from our interviews and the bank has sent us the tapes of the surveillance of all week except for last night. They say it was a problem of miscommunication and that they'll sent us the tapes soon".

-"I have some bad news. The victim was a boy. It's probably one of the soccer teammates of Jennifer. You should call their coach. He might know who was friends with the girl or even who went with them that afternoon and that way you won't have to unnecessarily alarm the other parents" -it brought more questions without answer -"The problem is, where's Jennifer? Was she taken by the attacker?"- she tried to fill him in about everything she had learnt- "Also, there seems to be a connection to a small zone of dessert. It might be nothing but you should contact David Hodges from the Traces Lab".

-"What the f...?"- the line went silent for little more than a second- "Okay, I'm calling an A.M.B.E.R. Alert. We are going to put road block controls in all major arteries of the city but it's been about nine hours since she was abducted so who knows how far she can be if the criminal decided to flee. On the other hand, if the father was implicated as I believe, they probably haven't left the city. The wife seemed about to divorce him. He might have decided to escape with the girl. Moreover there hasn't been any ransom notice although I'll put someone on the phones just in case".

-"But why torture and kill the other child?"- she had a lot of doubts - "And why did he even come to the interview?"

-"I think that guy is a sociopath and the fact that his wife kicked him out again was the stressor that broke the camel's back. Not only his reactions were weird but there's something fishy about this man's life from the house he couldn't have afforded to pay to the fact that we couldn't find anything about his life previous to his marriage"- he stated the facts with confidence-"He wanted to kill them in this gruesome matter and he wanted to have the chance to look at our faces after we had seen his handiwork".

-"I just hope the girl is okay".

-"Me too"-his voice sounded heavy through the telephone-"As soon as I hang up, I'll have my men summon Mr Clegane to the Station again. We are going to find her".

* * *

Al Robbins was labelling some samples behind his desk as Dave finished cleaning of blood the tiny body of the boy. When Dr Robbins saw her, he picked up his cane and got up in one swift movement as experience had converted the walking aide in just one more part of his body. Dave shut off the water and turned too, greeting her with a nod.

-"Hey Morgan. We were expecting you"- said Robbins smiling at her- "Have you guys managed to identify our John Doe?"

-"Not yet. What can you tell me about me about Vanessa Clegane and the child?"

-"We've just finished with Mrs Clegane. Cause of death was a shot to the back of the head. Time of death is 5-8 PM"- Dave gave her the results of his work- "The decapitation was postmortem but the blows to the face, neck and back of the head and the defensive wounds on torso and arms are all antemortem. We'll get a mould of the stab marks. Still the kid got the worst of it. The rest of the information will be on your desk soon".

-"We have barely started the autopsy on the boy. We won't be able to tell you much until we're done" -Robbins informed her"- I've finished labelling the samples taken from the nails of the mother. You can take them to DNA".

-"I'll take them after the autopsy".

-"Are you sure you want to stay?" -Dave tried to convince her to opt out- "It gets pretty tough for me and I'm used to it".

-"Nobody so young should be on our table David, but I'm sure if Miss Brody has decided to stay, she is capable of handling it" -Robbins reassured her and the discussion was over.

The external examination and vitality tests determined that the multiple cuts, gashes and bruises on his face and upper body were made with him alive as they feared. They had extracted the vitreous humour of the other eye to get the very best margin on time of death and it matched the findings they had gotten with Vanessa. There weren't any visible signs of sexual assault and, for that at least, they could be grateful. The poor kid's face was totally disfigured and his deep lifeless eyes seemed to be staring at her angrily. She shook her head, closed her eyes and wished to stop seeing what wasn't there. When she opened them, the illusion had vanished.

When they started with the Y shaped incision, she realised there probably wasn't much more she was going to learn and, after saying her goodbyes, she took off to continue her work.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He seriously considered beating his head against the wall. He knew he had just blown up the chance Finn had provided him but he hoped he could fix it when she came back for the rest of the results... if she did come instead of sending someone else for them. Right now 'though, his objective was to analyse the heck out of the traces he had to help find that girl and catch the killer.

It was true that elevated levels of those chemical compounds could only be found in the 25 square miles surrounding Alkary's Factory at the start of the desert zone south-west of Las Vegas but there were about a thousand people working in that factory and the surrounding ones so even just running background checks on all of them was going to be a monumental task and it was going to take time the girl may not have. He told Officer Mitchell as much when he called him half an hour later.

Most of the stuff he found was too common to pinpoint any area or particular occupation and he was down to the last soil sample the CSIs had collected. The Mass Spectrometer had already done its thing and he was looking at it with a microscope. There seemed to be some spores and at first glance he couldn't recognise them what could be a great sign since he was sure he knew the shape of all the common spores in the metropolitan zone. It was time to compare it to try to find what specie it was from. He might have stricken gold.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

-"Morgan"-Finn didn't even say hello before telling her what she had discovered- "We need to go to the scene again. I'm practically sure there were two people involved in the crime".

-"Then let's go"- she wasn't going to let that kid down.

This time the ride was tense and silent after Finn had explained that there was a hole in the blood pattern that could only match with a second suspect but that she needed to see it in person. It was dispersed by the sound of Finn's cell phone.

-"Uhm aha, okay... wow... will do"- were her half of the conversation.

-"It seems that the patrolmen that went to fetch Clegane committed the mistake of telling him it wasn't his daughter that had died and he bolted. They didn't know he was a suspect so they thought he should know his daughter wasn't dead as soon as possible. They are right now being chewed out by Mitch not only because they told him but because they let him give them the slip. He wants us to get his prints from something in the house and send him the results immediately".

-"Damn".

Once they got there, Finn started reconstructing the scene with red laser pointers and mannequins. It was going to be a long job. Meanwhile Morgan started searching for prints in places where they hadn't looked before in the master bedroom and in what was obviously the father's stuff.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

Arghhh, he couldn't find the damn type of spore. Moreover Nick and Sara were pestering him about their stuff and it was only time before Sanders got impatient too. If they thought this job was so easy, they could just do it themselves and see how well it went.

He took a break from finding the spore to advance the analysis of the other samples hoping to catch up and that the pause would clear his mind up and help him.

He had a lucky break or two in Nick and Sara's case but still couldn't find the species and was two images away from hitting something.

He closed his eyes to relax and sighed loudly and when he opened them he found a half amused half vexed Conrad Ecklie.

-"Do you know where's my daughter?"- he asked politely. They had gotten on better as they had gotten to know each other a bit after Olivia and him started dating and he realised he wasn't actually doing the same with his child.

-"She was working on her case but I don't know where she is right now"- he hoped Ecklie couldn't notice the guilt he felt for how things had gone down in their last encounters.

-"It's just that I asked her on Friday if she wouldn't mind spending her break with me. She is been so busy lately that we haven't been able to meet barely at all these last few weeks and I'm a bit worried. I even bought chicken from our favourite place"- he confessed to him and it made him feel even worse because he didn't deserve the confidence and because he should have noticed that something was off with Morgan... he was such a pathetic self-centred sorry excuse for a friend.

-"I imagine you've already tried her cell phone, how about sending her a pager?"- he suggested.

* * *

Morgan had finished collecting all the fingerprints. Taking out the child sized ones and the partial ones that were only barely usable, there were still a good dozen or so. Finn was still in the middle of setting everything up and was so concentrated that she barely nodded when Morgan told her she was going to the portable laboratory they had in the back of the car to discard the prints from the wife and see if the husband's were in AFIS.

She got there and in very few minutes they were introduced. Luckily there seemed to have been a clear fingerprint that wasn't the wife's on a historical novel inside his bedside table. Even if he was on the database 'though, this would take some time. She was still waiting when she heard a small commotion to her right and saw him.

Clegane was fighting with another man 30 yards down the street. It was a tall man with dark brown or black hair, difficult to say as there wasn't much light. He was wearing dark pants, a clear sleeveless t-shirt and some sporty shoes. He was muscular and had tattoos but she couldn't make them out clearly.

She took out her phone but it had died because of lack of battery. She pulled out her gun and flashlight and advanced towards them.

As soon as they made her, she run towards them yelling for them to stop but they took running in opposite directions. She decided to follow the dark haired man but he was very fast. She increased her pace but just when she was reducing the distance he jumped onto a bulky Harley Davidson motorbike. She tried to make out the license plate number but the license plate was intentionally muddled and she could barely make out a 3 and the letter F. He burnt up the road getting out of there in seconds while she tried to get something more from the license plate.

In that moment her pager went off and she saw she had received a message from her father (damn! she had forgotten about their lunch break date). She started reading it as she turned around to return when she received a heavy blow to the back of her head. She fell to the floor face first and before she lost consciousness she heard someone over her say:

-"You've fucked everything up".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Morgan doesn't know what the expression self-care means and that's not good, not good at all. If you don't take care of your psyche and emotional health, you are never going to heal completely and in her job, she really needs it although what she really needed this time was a BIG helmet XD Well, what have you thought about this chapter? What should Hodges have done different? Is Morgan right about being angry? What do you think it's going to happen next? Please tell me in a review. There's a bit less interaction between the protagonists in this chapter but I needed the time to develop the case a bit further. Lots of cyber hugs for my favourite readers! See ya next Thursday!
> 
> P.S.: FF ate this chapter so this is version 2.0 Raaaarghhhh! That will teach me to take better precautions! Also, this is my longer chapter to date. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to be the norm so don't get used to it. Sorry


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm an slave to Thursdays so here I am XD
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
>  **A/N:** Two cliffhangers on a row. I hope the resolution of this one isn't disappointing :P There's more interaction between our protagonists in this chapter. Will they be able to work things through to an understanding? Where do you think this case is heading?
> 
> Thanks a lot for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting this fanfic. You make writing it a pleasure. I send you all the internet cookies in the world darlings!

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

-"She isn't answering her pager either"- there was worry mixed into Ecklie's statement as Morgan always answered her pager.

-"Call Finn now"- he said more forcefully than he had intended- "They may be together. Or Officer Mitchell, he was the officer in charge"- he suggested as a second thought.

-"You don't know where she is? She went to the car to run some prints?"- Ecklie was drilling Finn with questions.

An uncomfortable silence fell while Finn left the building and walked over to the car. Hodges had stopped working and was feeling like a fool just standing there staring at the phone Ecklie was holding like it was life and dead. He really hoped he was over-reacting.

-"Eh? You don't see her? The back door is open? Where's my daughter?!"- Ecklie lost his cool- "No, I'll call Officer Larry Mitchell, you just look for her. Please"- he said hanging up and calling Mitchell.

-"CSI Morgan Brody is missing. She has disappeared from 27 Vermillion Avenue. Yes, I know. Put all your available men on it NOW"- his tone was frantic.

-"Sir, what can I do to help?"- he had pieced together enough from Conrad's conversations to know Morgan was missing and he wasn't just going to stay here and do nothing.

-"You need to remain here and continue doing your job. I know you want to go out there and help the search but you are more useful here helping solve the case"- he preemptively told him- "I also want to be out there but I have to coordinate everything. I've already called a man hunt on the main suspect and they are looking for her. There's nothing more we can do".

He sounded defeated as he said those last words. He didn't feel much better. This reminded both of them of the events of 5 months ago.

-"I understand sir"- he acquiesced and more gently he said- "They'll find her soon Conrad".

-"Your mother is right. You are a good man Hodges".

The emotional moment passed and the cold hard reality hit them. Hodges concentrated harder still on finding a match for the spore while Ecklie got on the phone again to keep track of the search.

-"She is alright. She has to be alright. Our last moment together can't be a fight"- Those dark thoughts tormented him as he worked. What would he do if his best friend didn't make it? It was too painful to even consider it.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

-"Hey, are you going to be sleeping all day?"- the voice sounded muffled like it came from under water.

-"Are you going to continue slacking off lazy bones?"- despite the teasing words, the tone was affectionate and warm.

-"They need you out there. Get up!"- this time it sounded crystal clear and she thought she recognised the voice.

-"Hodges?"- she was surprised at how hoarse and weak her voice sounded.

-"She's woken up!"- a female voice shouted.

-"How are her vitals?"- a bright light blinded her.

-"Pupils are equal and reactive. Pulse is normal"- she informed the other person and then asked her- "Do you know where you are? Can you tell me where it hurts? Please, don't move".

-"I was... I was chasing a suspect and someone must have hit me from behind. I think it was Martin Clegane but I couldn't see him. My head hurts a lot".

-"I'm sure it does. You received a pretty nasty blow with a blunt object"- said the male paramedic and to the woman she added- "So Glasgow Scale 15. She is going to be okay".

She was starting to recover all her mental faculties. She knew better this time than to try to get out of the EMT's stretcher. She was aware of the mayhem of policemen setting the perimeter. She hoped her father hadn't gotten too worried and then she remembered the fingerprints she had left running and the words of Clegane... what had she fucked up?

-"Morgan!"- Finn was running towards her- "We were worried sick. Your father was ordering everybody like a general with his army out to find you".

She certainly could imagine that.

-"I'm okay. Don't worry. It's just a scratch. As soon as they let me go, we are closing this case"- she tried to put on a big grin but the superficial injuries she had gotten in the fall, specially the gash in her cheek, hurt quite a bit and she flinched.

-"Yep, those assholes are going to wish they hadn't been born"- she smiled back.

Officer Mitchell approached them.

-"Brody, are you okay?"

-"Yes, I'm fine"- she was already getting tired of the question and the day was young.

-"I'm glad we found you. Your father is making my men crazy"- he tried to lighten the conversation with a joke before getting into more important matters- "What happened?"

-"I saw Martin Clegane and another man fighting. He was a tall white man, a bit over 6 feet, like 6 feet 3 inches, with dark hair and tattoos on his arms. He was wearing a sleeveless light-coloured shirt and dark coloured pants"- she tried to be as thorough as possible in her description -"My cell phone was out of battery so I couldn't call for you guys. I tried telling them to stop but they tried to escape. I chased the dark haired guy until he jumped on his bike and then I suppose Clegane had returned and he sneaked up on me and hit me in the back but I didn't see his face so I'm not sure. I think I heard him say I had fucked everything".

-"Did you get the brand and model or the license plate number of the motorbike?"- he was all business.

-"I think it was an older model of Harley Davidson. The license plate was covered in mud and dirt so the only things I managed to discern were the number 3 and the letter F. I know it's not much to go on. Sorry".

-"Don't worry too much about it. These guys will use any trick to make the license plate illegible"- he reassured her.

-"Have you found anything?-"- she asked both of them.

-"We finally got the ATM tapes. My men have given them to your guy in the Lab, Archie".

-"Do you remember the prints you left running?"- Finn got her up to speed- "We got a hit in AFIS. They belong to a Martin Atkins of Chicago. His record was classified and we couldn't access it".

-"We are working to find out who blocked them and get permission to access them. I can't think of many reasons we have restricted access to his file"- explained Mitchell.

-"I'm sorry I didn't go with you to check the prints"- Finn apologised.

-"Don't be. You were preparing the reconstruction. Tell me, did you figure it out?"- Morgan was curious to know.

-"There had to have been two people. Someone blocked the trajectory of the blood that splashed from the execution shot of the mother. I'm a hundred percent positive on that".

-"The father must have had an accomplice" -Mitch interjected.

-"I'm not so sure it was him. Something about what he said and everything else... it just doesn't feel right"- Morgan voiced her suspicions.

-"Do you think he is trying to pay up a ransom and you interrupted it?"- asked Finn.

-"I don't know. It didn't seem that way either. They were fighting. I want to talk with an sketch artist to get my description of that guy".

-"Whatever it is, we'll find out when we catch him"- concluded Mitchell - "Now you need to get that looked up at the hospital".

As if on cue, the paramedics started lifting the stretcher into the ambulance.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

Ecklie entered his Lab in a hurry. It was hard to read in his face what kind of news he had.

-"They've found her and she is okay"- suddenly he felt like he could breath again - "Can you take a break from work? I'm going to the hospital and I can give you a lift if you want to come".

-"Yes"- he said without giving it a second thought. He promised himself to tear them a new asshole to anyone who dared to talk badly of Ecklie in his presence. He also felt bad for having badmouthed him so many times because their rivalry with the Day Shift and Ecklie and Grissom's enmity- "Thank you".

The ride there seemed eternal. Both men were silent as they crossed the heavily illuminated avenues. Las Vegas doesn't sleep, not even at four in the morning.

The air was chilly when they left the car and entered the noisy halls of the hospital. In the front desk, after Ecklie identified himself, the nurse in charge told them that she was in Observation Room 12 on the first floor.

When they got there a nurse was giving her some last stitches to a gash just below her left eye. She had several small lacerations on her cheeks, jaw, nose and forehead and the big gash the nurse was treating. She also had a bandage covering the back of her head but she was smiling at the nurse, talking about something with her and that calmed him a bit. Seeing her injured had made his blood pressure go through the roof. He just wanted to go over and hold her hand, maybe even hug her to make sure she was really okay and safe... but he wasn't sure she was even going to want to see him.

A nurse came by to ask who they were and Conrad had to give some explanations again to him and to the doctor who came by. The physician, Elena Mckay told them that she was okay. She had been given a head CT scan since she had lost her consciousness just to be sure but there had been nothing wrong on it. Her injuries had been cleaned and treated and they just wanted to have her in observation for a pair of hours or so. Conrad thanked both of them and entered the room but Hodges decided to wait outside.

He told himself he just didn't want to intrude in the father-daughter moment but really he was scared of being rejected. Perhaps that was too strong a word for it... it wasn't like he was asking her out... What was that about asking her out? He felt like his thoughts were betraying him. Memories of the time they were there during Conrad's surgery flashed in his mind. The soft pressure of her lips, the awkward taste of lipstick mixed with tears and her sweet sad eyes looking intently at him. He had wanted her like he had wanted no one but he didn't want to take advantage of her because he knew she was just in a fragile state because of his father's uncertain fate and that as soon as it passed, she would realise that she didn't like him that way and not only his heart would break, but he would lose the friendship of the best person he'd ever met.

Suddenly it became all too clear to him why he hadn't told her about Elisabetta. He was a fucking coward and he had just been lying to himself. While it was true that he didn't want to be pitied and that he wasn't sure he was prepared to expose his heart again, that was just a small part of it. He had suppressed his feelings for Morgan for so long, he had been lying to himself for ages and he was scared of finally having no excuse not to pursue the relationship he desired because he was terrified of losing her. The contradiction in all that is that he seemed to be pushing her away anyway. He had been too frightened of doing anything that could mess up their relationship, that he was spoiling it and all that without even fully realising it.

And now that he was starting to grasp his feelings, what? The vessels in his brain throbbed, he was giving himself a migraine. He considered just leaving until he had his ideas clear but Morgan was hurt and he had been a jerk and she deserved some answers whatever their future was. He strolled to the doorway hesitating on whether or not to enter. Would he even be welcomed?

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

The stay in the hospital hadn't been as boring as she thought. The nurse that was treating her wounds, Aliyah, was close to her in age and had been telling her everything about her crush on her co-worker Darryl who was the nurse in charge of the odd numbered rooms in this wing of the hospital. She was very cute talking about how he always offered to help with her rooms. Morgan wondered if there was still some of that soft innocence inside her after all the horrible things she had seen on her job and everything that had happened to her. Sometimes she felt very twisted inside but right now she had some tiny little hope.

-"Sweetheart. Thank god you are okay"- her dad looked really glad to see she was fine.

-"I'm sorry to have worried you dad".

-"Why didn't you wait for back up? Why did you have to chase them?"- flashbacks of her dad reprimanding her after having swum too far into the ocean when she was a kiddo resurfaced.

-"My phone was dead and there was nobody else so I had to do it".

-"I just want you to be safe".

-"I am safe dad".

He hugged her like he thought she could disappeared at any moment and she was very glad he hadn't broken any ribs.

-"I'm sorry sweetie but I'm going to have to go now to coordinate the man hunt. I want to catch the animal who did this to you. Unless you need me to stay..."

-"No, you go. I'm okay. I'm actually having a nice time"- Conrad made a weird face- "Yeah, I never thought I'd say that either".

-"Well, David Hodges came with me. He is just outside. He said something about not wanting to bother you. Do I tell him to come in?"- Conrad seemed curious about the hesitancy of Hodges.

-"Tell him to stop being such a big baby and just come inside"- she said chuckling. She was remembering the hallucination she had just before waking up after the attack.

-"Oy, don't call me a baby"- said David entering the room.

-"Drop the indignant tone, eavesdropper"- she said in an accusatory tone.

-"I... I wasn't eavesdropping... I just"- he was blabbering so she took pity on him.

-"I was just kidding silly"- she teased him -"Well, dad, as you see I'm in capable hands, don't feel bad about going back to work".

-"Goodbye kids".

-"Goodbye sir".

An uncomfortable silent formed itself between the two of them. Hodges was the first to break it.

-"I'm so so sorry. I've been such a bad friend. I was so scared something bad had happened to you and our last encounter had been a fight and it was so stupid of me to push you away"- she heard him swallowing hard before continuing- "Elisabetta and I cancelled the wedding because we didn't want the same things and because we just weren't right for each other. You tried to warn me about that, didn't you? I'm sorry I didn't tell you before".

And just with that any little smidgen of resentment she may have felt, dissolved. He was so vulnerable she wanted to squeeze him close but she feared that like a scaredy cat or a wild animal, he might flee if she approached him too strong.

-"I already knew it"- she confessed.

-"How... ?"- Morgan saw Hodges put 2 and 2 together = Finn in his brain -"Oh, of course".

-"Why did you hide it from me?"- she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer... but she couldn't help asking.

-"The truth is...".

He started to answer but was interrupted by Aliyah that came back to check her vitals, after all she was in observation. She regained her annoyance at hospitals.

-"We'll talk later. Can you tell me if you've discovered something about the traces I left with you?"

-"It was hard but I managed to identify a type of zygospore. I hadn't heard of it because it's only common in coastal cities. I don't know how it ended in Las Vegas but it's certainly something unique around here. If you manage to find the source, you'll have found out your criminal".

-"Wow, that's great Hodges"- he always managed to come to the rescue with the information they needed to arrest the culprits. Aliyah finished taking her vitals and left the room.

-"Well, I'm going to let you rest"- he tried to say his farewell.

-"No way. Now that I have new information, I can't stay here. Help me get my stuff!"

The look of perplexity on his face was priceless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Do you think I'm going too slow? Too fast? Do you want to see them together N-O-W? Do you want me to torture them slowly? XDDD Poor poor characters in my evil hands. I think I'm actually treating them very well :P Well, tell me what you think in a review. I love to read them, they are my life force. And now this slacker is going back to study like a good girl. Have an awesome week and an awesome life! PS: I almost forgot to post this today XDDD


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! Here you have your weekly dose of fic
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
>  **A/N:** Were you frustrated by the interruption? If I was the one reading it, I would be XD Not that I'm sure that Hodges would have actually confessed. I don't think he sees himself as worthy of Morgan. He thinks he is too old and too cynical and jaded. I would like to give him a whack on the head so he stopped undermining himself. I hope Morgan can convince him that his sarcastic personality and his goodness make him very attractive before it's just too late. I'm ranting, aren't I? XD I was re-reading the last two chapters just now before writing this one and it was super depressing the massive number of typos and errors that had escaped my previous editing *sighs*
> 
> Thanks again for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting this fanfic! I wouldn't find the will to write otherwise. This week some IRL friends might be reading this and that's mighty embarrassing but it also makes my heart warm so I dedicate this chapter to all of my friends who've made it this far!

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

That, he hadn't been expecting and his mind debated between feeling exasperated about her recklessness or admiring her dedication. Truthfully he should have already known she wasn't going to stay put because she wouldn't be Morgan otherwise. He sighed internally like a long suffering parent with a mischievous child. But then he heard her chuckle at his expression and it made him feel that being a jester would be the best job in the world if it was on her court. What a random and creepy thought to have. Was he sure he wasn't the one who had hit his head?

-"Here, have your stuff"- he said picking it up from the chair besides her bed- "Should I even bother to tell you that leaving the hospital against the doctor's orders is one of the stupidest ideas you've ever had and your dad is going to kill us both if he finds out?"- he inquired.

-"You aren't going to change my mind and you know it so you can help me get out of here and accompany me to the Lab or I can wait until you're gone, sign the voluntary discharge and get a taxi by myself"- what a devilish, no, scratch that, what an impish smile she had while she not-so-subtly manipulated him into accepting.

-"Okay, okay. You've convinced me"- he said after sighing loudly- "I'm so dead when Conrad finds out"- he thought to himself.

-"Don't be melodramatic"- she chastised him about the sighing- "I'm going to change now so if you don't mind"- she signalled for him to turn around and she started to untie the knots that secured her hospital gown.

David turned his back to her quickly barely containing the impulse to just get out of the room where he would be out of danger. That was a childish impulse, it's not like he was a horny adolescent who was going to try to take a peek at her body.

Still it seemed like the seconds were dragging their feet like rebellious teenagers on their way to a boring ceremony and he couldn't completely ignore that a beautiful woman he desired was completely nude behind him. His traitorous mind didn't doubt to provide him with an abundant supply of images of her and his imagination filled the gaps. He felt himself beginning to blush and something more down below as he thought about how Morgan's body would feel flush against him, the warmth seeping from her as he clutched her tightly in his embrace, bothering that soft skin until it got red and ache-y with need.

He stopped himself right then and there feeling even worse than if he was a peeping tom. He tried somewhat successfully to think of something disgusting like human remains or having to eat a very nasty and full of germs spoilt mayonnaise (Salmonella could be very dangerous!) to kill off his hard on.

-"Hey, you can look now"- she informed him but he still took a few seconds of breathing in and out before doing it.

-"Well, that took you long enough. Let's go".

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

She couldn't deny she had felt a certain amount of satisfaction at bewildering her friend but after asking him to turn around she had felt a little self conscious changing in the same room as him after so many mind-fucking dreams. She thought that it was only the difficulty of untying those damn little knots with her scratched hands that had prevented her from dwelling too much on the issue. She would have preferred to die on the spot than relive her fantasies in that situation.

After signing all the necessary documents to the opposition of Dr. McKay, they stopped a taxi to the Lab. Hodges helped her get inside and she found it funny that he seemed to be trying to help her while at the same time trying to touch her as little as possible. Maybe changing in the same room as him had been too much for the poor man. She felt the irrepressible need to tease him a bit so she inched closer to him in the seat.

-"Where are you going lads?"- a sixty something year old man asked them.

He gave him the address as he tried to make himself one with the door to escape her approach. She didn't try to get closer to him. Teasing him was one thing but torturing him so much that he jumped out of a running car was quite another.

She settled into her seat as the radio started to play "She keeps me warm" by Mary Lambert. The easy repetitive rhythm of the song seemed to make Hodges calmer because he visibly relaxed and stopped trying to fuse himself with the door. The lyrics were simple but very sweet and she kept refraining the urge to caress the hand that Hodges had hanging by his side. She was sure he would jump if she tried.

They just stayed side by side in silent companionship until they got to the Lab where each of them parted to continue their work.

* * *

Today wasn't her lucky day for sure but she felt her luck was changing when she managed to find Finn and Mitchell together in the first examination room she entered.

-"Hey. Glad to see you out and about. The hospital staff couldn't put up with you anymore and they decided to release you, didn't they?"- Finn was beaming at her while she tried to pull her leg.

-"Hello Brody. I hope you are feeling better?"- his tone seemed to imply he was wondering why they had released her so soon.

-"Hi guys. Don't worry, I'm completely fine"- she said omitting her voluntary discharge.

-"Well, in that case we have news that are quite incredible"- Finn seemed very eager to tell her.

-"Yes, a judge approved our request and we gained access to the confidential files of Martin Atkins. He used to be a cop".

-"A cop?"- she wasn't expecting that.

-"Yes, he worked in an undercover drug unit mission. We managed to talk to some of his superiors and his partner is coming to the Station"- they had been working diligently during the time she'd spent in the hospital- "He was working an Ireland drug ring led by the MacAuliffe Family of south-west Munster in Chicago. His superiors have told me that they got three strong convictions out of the information he got but that later, after the operation had ended, he decided to quit the force because of the psychological trauma he'd accrued during the undercover stint".

-"And then he changed his name and moved to Las Vegas where he go married and had a daughter"- concluded Finn.

-"Why did he change his name? Was it because he feared retaliation or was there something else?"- that was the question that was on their three minds and she was just voicing it out loud.

-"I just hope the interview with his old partner will give us more information"- Mitchell didn't seem too convinced- "If we could just get our hands on that slimy assassin cop".

-"You still believe he is the killer one hundred percent?"- she was curious.

-"Yes, I do and I promised the parents of the little boy, Colin Addams, that I would do everything in my hand to find him and bring him to justice"- he was pretty solemn as he said it.

She couldn't imagine how hard it could be to lose a son and in such a cruel way. Her own father had been too close to having to identify her corpse. She wanted to get to work soon and just concentrate on that.

-"Morgan, would you mind going to check how is Archie doing and go around to Henry's too?"- asked Finn- "I just need to write down all the new information to see if I can get anything else out of it".

-"Sure, I'm going right now"- she quickly acquiesced- "Bye Mitchell" - she wished him luck with catching Martin but she was less and less convinced he was the culprit.

* * *

-"Hey Archie!"- she greeted the usually hyper tech.

-"Hi... oh God. what happen to your face?"- he might be the only person in the Lab who hadn't found out about her ordeal.

-"I just really wanted the last piece of pizza. You don't want to see how the other one ended"- she deadpanned him.

-"Seriously, did something happen to you? I've been watching all the ATM footage of the last week of your case non-stop"- he sounded worried.

-"It really is nothing. I just got a small concussion from the suspect in our case. I'm good as new"- she reassured him- "Now, what do you have for me?"

-"In the past week I've seen the same vehicle parked during a long period of time on three occasions. Last night two men got out of it and entered the building".

-"Does any of them match the description of the suspect? Is one of them a big dark haired thug?" -She bombarded him with questions- "Is there footage of them leaving with the girl?"

-"Easy there"- he tried to slow down the avalanche of inquiries- "One of them might match the description of Martin Clegane but it was dark and the car blocked most of the image so even my uncle Lin could match the description. The other one seems to fit the description you just gave me. Look"- he said showing her the enlarge imaged quite distorted by the zooming of someone who looked like the large man that had escaped on the Harley- "You already know that the ATM cam only works when someone is taking out money and unluckily nobody was there when they got out. I imagine they waited until the street was empty before leaving".

-"Can you get anything else out of it?"- she was running out of hope.

-"I think I can get a plate number but it's going to take a good while. Cleaning the image is a pretty slow process you know"- he seemed to be regretful he couldn't offer more to help find the girl.

-"Yes, I know but thanks a lot. This is really going to help"- they would have something to work with soon. That was great news- "Have you told Officer Mitchell?"

-"I was just about to call him"- he admitted.

-"Well, then I'm not going to keep entertaining you"- she made her goodbyes- "Page me as soon as you get anything on the License Plate Number"

-"Okay. Try to not get whacked on the head again"- he told her.

-"I'll try"- she said chuckling.

* * *

The visit to Henry didn't provide anything useful as the DNA was still in the middle of the process and Henry reminded her he couldn't rush the DNA polymerasa and she of course had to agree. They had a DNA sample of Martin Atkins now from his time as a cop so they would finally be able to compare it with the unknown samples they had gotten from the fingernails of Jennifer's mother Vanessa and of Colin.

She exited the DNA quarters and pressed her forehead against the glass to cool it. Greg happened to pass by in that precise moment.

-"Hey, how are you doing?"- oh, that question again- "Do you have a headache? Are you sure you should be out of the hospital so soon?"

-"I'm okay Greg. It's just that this is a pretty hard case"- Greg was always looking after everybody in the Lab so she didn't want to worry him.

-"That's good to hear but if you aren't feeling completely al right, just tell me and I'll drive you myself to the hospital".

-"Thanks Greg. I'll do"- she smiled at him thankful for the offer although the more pig-headed part of her brain completed the sentence with "over my dead body" because she really wanted to find Jennifer before anything bad happened to her and time was running out.

-"Take care Morgan"- and with that he entered Henry's Lab.

She decided to go see if Hodges had something for her although she knew it was really unlikely and she just wanted to chat with him for a bit and clear her head.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

-"So you are telling me that he was an undercover cop that changed again his identity and maybe a drug Family chased him here to make him pay for sending some of its members to prison?"- it sounded a little far-fetched when said out loud.

-"I know it sounds like an over elaborated tale but there's more. It seems like Martin Atkins was fighting with one of the killers. Maybe he was one of his contacts from those days. Maybe he didn't even know he was involved in the murder and kidnapping for sure"- she seemed to be having trouble fitting all the information and impressions she'd gathered together.

-"This is looking more and more like that episode of Castle in which there's that spy game or maybe like the one with the Mafia"- he wondered aloud.

-"You are a fan of Castle?"- she asked with curiosity.

-"Of course not. My mother loves the actor that plays Richard Castle so I've watched one episode or two when I was over for dinner"- he tried to minimize his guilty pleasure secret.

She stared at him.

-"Okay, more like a season or two and then I had to know what had happened to Becket's mother and well... yeah I'm a fan, happy?"- he reluctantly admitted.

-"Was that so hard?"- she lightly teased him- "You've never been ashamed of your nerdy interest and now you try to hide something to what most people wouldn't give a second thought?"- she smiled- "Sometimes you are flabbergasting".

He didn't know if he should feel flattered or insulted so he picked the former.

-"Thank you"- he comically puffed out like a proud peacock in order to get an smile from her.

-"Don't be silly"- she laughed at his mock preening.

She had entered the room kind of low of morale and depressed and she now was laughing and happy. He still felt he should never pursue a relationship with her. He was too old, too much of a jerk and a complete emotional mess. He saw the world like a place where people screwed one another constantly. He was never going to be good enough for her as a partner but he had just proved that he could be the good friend that pulled her up when she was feeling down and that was all he thought he could ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Well, what did you think about today's chappie? There was more interaction between our protagonists for sure. Was it interesting? credible? too corny? Do you want to kick Hodges for being such a Dobby Downer? What do you think about the case? I admit that I'm a total perv and that I enjoy putting my characters in uncomfortable situations. Such fun! (this last joke will only be understood by fans of the TV series Miranda). Anyway, please tell me what you thought in a review in that box just below. I'm really looking forward to reading what you think because it's the only way I'm going to improve and I want to! As I'm not posting before then, I want to wish you Happy holidays! Season's Greetings my dear readers!
> 
> PS: Sorry for posting so late. I took too long to write. My complete fault.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spotty slow internet connection is the worst =( Welcome to this Thursday's installment (does that sound snobby?).
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
> **A/N:** Did you guys have a nice time? I'm still on Holidays but with a big to-do list I'm completely ignoring because what's better than procrastinate until the last moment and then freak out trying to finish everything in a flurry of stress and anxiety? XD For instance, today's Thursday and here I am writing this week's chapter at the last moment. The worst part is that obviously I didn't sleep much this last couple of days so be prepared to trudge through this typo-filled mine field because my attention span is comparable to Dory's memory in Finding Nemo.
> 
> I'm incredibly grateful with all of you for taking the time to read my fanfic. Thanks a lot to everybody who followed, favourited or reviewed this fanfic. Electronic hugs for everybody. Onto the show now!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Laughing and grinning were two inadvisable things to do when you didn't want to mess up the stitches that spread through your cheek.

-"Awww, awww, it hurts"- she said trying to maintain a neutral face to make the pain better.

-"Be careful with your stitches"- advised Hodges.

-"Well, stop making me laugh"- she complained.

-"It's not my fault that I am so incredibly funny"- he teased her.

-"Youuu...".

-"What have I said?"- He gave her a big innocent smile.

-"Oh, nothing, nothing but if I were you, I'd be careful from now on".

-"What do you mean by that?"

-"Who knows? *cough* payback is coming *cough*".

-"Uhh, I'm scared"- he wasn't even trying to be convincing.

-"Oh, you should be"- trying to repress grinning was hard when she was having such a good time- "Well, I gotta go catch a head-basher and some murderers"- She thought of something then- "I've been planning to try that new Mexican restaurant that's just opened near Henderson Street. Would you like having breakfast with me?"

-"Sure. Count me in"- he really had a nice smile when he wasn't being grouchy.

-"Then, it's a date".

Hodges made a weird face at the expression but she bolted, not giving him time to ask anything.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

She surely hadn't really meant anything by "It's a date". It was simply something that people say. Also people had dates with friends, right? right?! Maybe she had just been teasing him... after all that's what they had been doing instants before, just a bit of banter-y fun? He wasn't the type to over-think stuff or at least he thought so...

He then remembered how he had actually messed up his chances with Wendy at the start by over-analysing the consequences it might have on his job performance and the urge to hit his head against something from some hours prior returned. He had been such an idiot... but this time it was different, he shouldn't get involved with her. She would be happier with someone who had more things in common with her, someone closer to her in age.

He tried imagining her with a good-looking intelligent guy and it made him mad because internally he thought of most guys as jerks who would mistreat her. He was the worst, like the dog in the manger from the Aesop's fable. He knew he would get super jealous of whoever dated Morgan but he would have to learn to deal with it and this breakfast would be the first step in letting go.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Unaware of Hodges freak out, Morgan was examining Finn's report.

-"I'm sorry I wasn't around to help"- she said apologetically.

-"No prob. Next time I'll let myself be hit in the head to take a nice vacation at the hospital"- she winked at her.

-"Come on, don't make me laugh. The doctor is going to kill me if after getting voluntarily discharged, I have to return to get re-stitched. Oh, damn!- she realised too late she had spilled the beans- "You aren't going to tell Russell, right?"

-"Ha, I knew it. I'd have done exactly the same so I'm not going to tell but take it easy girl"- she patted her on the back.

-"So, from the look of things the sequence of events is pretty clear"-she segued into work again.

-"Yes, they used some sort of ruse to get Vanessa to open the door and they overpowered her creating the blood stains on the hall".

-"They took her to the living room and tied her. In the middle of that the kids came and were easily reduced"- her tone was clinical and detached because that was the only way not to get emotional at such a gruesome crime.

-"Then the little boy was tortured in front of the woman to make her talk. Given how disfigured he was, we can extrapolate they didn't get what they wanted"- there was despise in her tone.

-"And they had to get rid of the witnesses now that they were useless to them so while one held the child, the other shoot the mother and then they executed the poor boy".

-"Everything with the little girl looking as her mother and her friend were injured and then killed. We really need to find her"- she closed her eyes momentarily to gather strength.

-"We will"- Finn put her hand on her shoulder- "We are good at this and criminals always make mistakes".

Morgan's phone rang. It was Officer Mitchell.

-"We caught the bastard"- his voice was distorted by all the noisy traffic of people going to their morning jobs. Transit in Vegas was as dense as pea soup so people usually got up really early to avoid the worse of it but, since many people thought the same, rush hour just started one hour earlier usually- "A patrol man recognised him and after a fifteen minute chase he was apprehended. I decided to take him to the station myself. I'm not taking chances this time. I'll be there in five. Do you want to interrogate him with me?"

-"Yeah. I hope he is more cooperative than last time although I doubt it.

-"Me too. See you in Interrogation Room number 3 in ten minutes.

-"I'll be there"- and she cut the call and sighed- "I really hope he is right and he is the culprit or at least gives us some useful information.

-"Hey, why are you so convinced he is innocent? You've thought so practically from the start".

-"I wish I could tell you exactly why but it's not much more than a hunch that I hope we can find evidence to support. A hunch without something to support it… it's basically useless".

-"Well, with the interview you'll get your chance to try and prove it.

-"Yeah, I've gotta get going"- she hoped some of her workmate's optimism would infect her.

* * *

Interrogations were on the low part of her preferred job tasks' mental list, they were just above paperwork. The sterile looking rooms were boring and people were completely defensive or defenseless when they were in that situation.

She got there with time to spare so she got herself a coke to sip during the interview. A pair of uniforms came hauling Martin who wasn't exactly putting up a fight, more like behaving like dead weight. His face was expressionless, almost completely empty except that when you looked deep into his eyes you could see badly masked despair.

Mitch was just behind supervising it. He nodded in her direction when he saw her.

-"He hasn't said anything at all"- he told her- "The arresting officers told me he clammed up and the only reason they could identify him was because, apart from fitting the description, he had his car license in his wallet along with other identifying documents. Let's go inside".

She shook her head affirmatively and they entered the room where Martin had been secured.

-"Look what the cat dragged in CSI Brody. Are you ready to tell us why did you torture and kill your wife and where's your daughter?"

He didn't even blink, just blankly stared at them.

-"Did you just finally had enough of your wife Mr. Atkins?"- at the mention of his former name, he reacted with surprise- "Oh, we do know who you are. Are you going to talk now?"

He could have been just a rock for all the response he showed. Mitchell banged on the metal table.

-"What have you done with your daughter? Is she even alive or did you just kill her because she annoyed you asking for her mommy?"- his tone was growing angrier by the minute.

-"Aren't you going to answer me you piece of shit?"

Martin stared at them with a bland expression and Mitchell kind of lost it. He grabbed him by the lapels and started shaking him.

-"You are going to tell me where the girl is NOW!"- he yelled at him- "and for your own good I hope she isn't injured. You don't know what they do in prison to people who hurt their own kids".

-"Mitch, a minute?"- she tried to talk him down.

-"Ehm"- he untangled himself from the suspect- "Sure Morgan".

They went out of the room and when she was about to close the room she saw that Martin was clenching his hands so tight that a bit of blood had stained his cream trousers.

-"I know I lost it there"- Officer Mitchell apologized- "I'm sorry. It's just…"

-"I know. This is hard for me too and it seems he isn't going to talk for now"- she said in an effort to clear the air- "We definitely need some leverage"- she added- "Also, you need to consider, as far-fetched as it may sound and no matter how guiltily he is behaving, that this is payback from the drug bust all those years ago".

-"Right"- he acquiesced- "His old partner's plane will land in 2 hours approximately. Some policemen will escort him here. I take it you are not going home so use these 2-3 hours to get some sleep and food in but you should. Tell Finlay to get some sustenance too".

-"Yes, dad"- she thought to herself. She should be glad Russell seemed to be too busy today to manage them because he would have made them go home or at least really tried. Well, at least she would really have time to take a good long hot shower before going to have breakfast with Hodges- "Please, page me as soon as he lands".

-"Will do. Get some rest!"

"You too".

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

She swung by to ask if he'd be able to take a break in half an hour to go have breakfast. He tried to be as casual as possible as he assented but as soon as she was out of sight, he run towards Henry's Lab.

-"Henry, please, I gotta go do something. Take care of the stuff I have running"- he tried putting on a winning smile but it didn't seem to work for him.

-"No, I'm swamped with my own work. I can't be going from one lab to the other all the time"- he completely refused.

-"It won't be too long... maybe 1 or 2 hours".

-"What?! Are you crazy? How long of a break do you intend to take? Russell is going to kill you".

-"It's just..."- he didn't want to tell him the truth but he didn't want to lie to him either but a lie by omission didn't seem too bad- "You know Morgan suffered an assault today and ended in the hospital"- Henry nodded- "Well, she has asked me to go with her to have breakfast and talk. She isn't completely fine. I really shouldn't be telling you much of this".

-"Oh, I understand. Take as long as you need"- what a good friend he was- "You'll repay it to me with interest, right?"- and not a fool at all it seemed.

-"Of course"- he said grumbling.

-"Then, deal"- Henry said grinning- "Have a great time with Morgan!"

* * *

He returned to his Lab. He let everything ready in five minutes and run to get a quick shower and a clean change of clothes.

He liked his Bordeaux red shirt and he wouldn't stuck out too much with these not too dressy trousers and black shoes neither in a fancy restaurant nor in a run down joint.

He waited for Morgan just outside the door pacing up and down to calm his budding nerves. How could he convince his unconscious that they were just friends so it shouldn't get anxious. It was a losing battle.

Then she appeared and came down the stairs. She was always pretty but with her hair still wet from the shower, that Rock Hard Café t-shirt and snug jeans she was gorgeous. His so important plan completely left his mind the moment she said hi with her pretty smile.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Hodges seemed to be trying to dig a hole with his pacing. He was so cute when he was nervous. At the start, she just had really wanted to have a nice breakfast in the middle of this chaotic shift but the joke of this being a date and all the events in these last days have made her feel that if she didn't do something soon, Hodges would drift away and that it would be a cold day in hell when he would act on his feelings so the ball was in her court.

She had had plenty of crushes but she had always had the help of her Los Angeles girl friends to help clue the guy in. The idea of asking for help with Hodges from the people in the Lab sounded absolutely awful and Hodges, being so self conscious, wouldn't appreciate it at all. What's more... she was pretty certain he would think they were playing a prank on him...

So she already knew she had to be super direct, super clear and more importantly unmoving because not even kissing him had been enough last time. What a pity you couldn't buy self-esteem for him in the supermarket...

Jokes apart, she really didn't have much confidence and seeing him standing there so handsome but so nervous too made her want to squish him between her arms.

-"Hi"- she tried to communicate part of what she felt with her smile- "You didn't have to wait too long, right?"

-"Not at all. Where is this Mexican place exactly"- he offered her his arm and she took it.

She started explaining and soon all the nervousness on both parts was gone.

This was a good start but there was no coming back anymore. Now she just needed to go with her plan and hope for the best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I thought it was a good place to stop but feel free to "yell" or flame through reviews if you don't agree XD Do you think Morgan will succeed? Eager to see them hooking up? Yes, no? Just tell me by writing it in the box just below. I think the case will be wrapped up in two more chapters unless these two hijack next week's chappie.
> 
> I wish all of you a really Happy New Year. Try not to make New Year resolutions 'though. You always end up breaking them and feeling bad with yourself XD Just kidding. Speaking about that I vow not to write the chapter the same day I'm publishing it... at least next week's XP Oh gosh, when I'm sleepy my jokes get even worse and that's a pretty big feat.
> 
> PS: FFdotNet didn't let me post the chapter for hours. I was about to throw the computer through a window but I realised that wouldn't be too productive...


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Did you fall for any April Fool's jokes? I was about to try to pull one on you but I took pity XP
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
> **A/N:** The date starts! I've been waiting a long time to get here so I'm a bit thrilled but I'd like another week of time to prepare it... It has been hectic trying to get any writing done in the middle of the celebrations, family visits, present shopping and such. Also, sleep deprivation and travelling from the North to the South of Spain after eating the grapes (in Spain we eat 12 grapes with the chimes of the clock into the New Year) aren't the most powerful motivators. This is an important chapter so I hope I don't fuck it up. You tell me. PS: I already broke the vow not to write this chapter the same day I'm supposed to be publishing it but to add insult to injury I'm taking way too long in finishing this chappie. I'm sorry T_T At least this is a bit longer than normal and that's even after I accidentally deleted a good chunk and had to rewrite it but that's no excuse. Sorry.

Thanks to my new readers and to those of you who've reviewed, favourited or followed my little fic. For those of you who've watched the last episode of "How I met your Mother", you are all adorable and hilarious ;D

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

The restaurant was actually quite close, just a 15 minute walk, so they decided to take a stroll. Even before taking on the Night Shift, he had been kind of a night owl but, now, going to bed when everybody was starting their day felt as natural as breathing. The sunlight rays were still weak and couldn't completely fend off against the chilly breeze of the early morning but the warm body next to his more than neutralised it.

Morgan was telling him that she was still wondering about the words that Martin Clegane or Atkins or however he was called, had shouted at her when he struck her. It sounded like he might have been negotiating some kind of ransom pay but there weren't any signs of the kidnappers making any demands... at least that they knew. It didn't fit inside her head why was Martin talking with the person who had kidnapped her daughter and not bashing his head in against some wall for example. At times it made her think Officer Mitchell might be right.

Other things were troubling her, like what information they were trying to get out of the victims going as far as torturing them. If it was simply to punish Martin for getting them on prison, why not simply kill him off when that tall muscle-y guy had seen him? Also she knew he was like a pressure cooker inside, no matter the calm façade he had on. He had so much trouble repressing it in that he had made himself bleed by clawing his own fingernails into his skin.

-"It's no use getting all worked up about the puzzle. Until you get all the pieces, you aren't going to be able to solve it so just try to channel your energies on something else"- What a Zen thing to say but it was the best advice he had at the moment- "When his police partner arrives, I'm sure things will become clearer and you'll solve it".

-"Sorry for rambling. You agree to have breakfast with me and I go on and on about the case"- she apologised.

-"I like hearing you talk"- oh, why did he have to be so blatantly obvious- " a-and I am really interested in this case. You know I love to talk about work"- and now he sounded like a workaholic.

-"About new forensic techniques maybe, not about field work"- she pointed out, apparently totally non-plussed about the earlier part of his sentence.

-"True. I don't know why you CSIs love to go to those places filled with grime and dirt"- he almost shivered at the thought of dumpster diving for evidence.

-"It can be fun. Sometimes we play rock-paper-scissors for the most disgusting tasks but I get that a germaphobe like you would have to have at least 30 showers after spending even an hour in some of the scenes"- she teased him.

-"Hey, I'm not a germaphobe"- she didn't seem impressed at his statement- "I just have a healthy sense of personal hygiene".

-"Right..."- she seemed to doubt his statement- "I'm sure you wouldn't even be able to share food with another person because you'd be scared of catching something".

-"Ermm... of course I'd be able to do that"- he answered quickly with his ego slightly bruised.

-"Nice to know"- the mischievousness of her smile disquieted him.

* * *

They chit-chatted some more until they were at the door of the restaurant and they had to disentangle themselves. He knew it had been a bad idea from the start to offer his arm but the feeling of emptiness when he let her arm go caught him by surprise. He found himself searching for a reason for taking her arm again. Damn himself.

The waiter was an older Mexican man, way into his fifties. He had an easy smile and was really fast on his feet and very agile for someone his age. As soon as he saw them, he picked two menus from a pile and, after asking them if someone else was meant to join them, he walked them to one of the available tables near a big window. The waiter pulled the chair up for Morgan before he himself could offer.

The restaurant itself was warm, decorated in bright tones of yellow, red, green, blue and orange, with Mexican art and pictures. Even the lamps were painted in such lively colours giving it a very festive atmosphere. Soft Mexican music played in the background. Apart from them, the restaurant was pretty empty, there were just three men having a hearty breakfast in one table and a couple that looked like tourists enjoying some extravagant dessert. It was a nice place but not exactly romantic and for that he was really grateful. He glanced at his menu. It wasn't his favourite food but they had some dishes that he liked well enough.

He looked up to Morgan who was really concentrated on her menu. A smile rose to his lips at the deep thought she was putting on the decision.

-"Having trouble deciding?"- he inquired.

-"I really like the _Chimichanga_ but I wanted to try these _Tacos Laguneros_. The friend who recommended me this restaurant said they were to die for..."

-" _Bienvenidos_. My name is Mateo. Have you had time to decide? What would like to have _de aperitivos_?"- the waiter was back.

-"Do you like _Nachos con Queso_?"-he nodded affirmatively to her question- "One _ración de Nachos con Queso_ please. What do you recommend for breakfast?"- she asked Mateo.

-"Breakfast _burritos_ with rice are a good way to start the morning with energy and the _Chimichangas_ are my personal favourite".

-"Oh, then I'll have the _Chimichanga_ and some _Jugo de Tamarindo_ "- she told the waiter.

-"And I'll have a _Taco Lagunero_ and some _Jugo_ too please"- he really was a suck up...

-"Good choices. Your _Nachos_ will be here shortly"- and he let them to their own devices.

Their conversation drifted to how their parents were doing. They met so frequently that they were wondering when they would hear them announce they were moving in together or even getting married.

-"I think it might still be a bit further down the road since my mother has taken a dislike to weddings after everything that happened with Elisabetta".

-"I don't think my father believes in marriage much after his divorce with my mother either".

-"It can't have been easy to lose his wife and daughter in one go with the move to Los Angeles"- his tone was pensive.

-"Yeah and I was so angry at him for not fighting more for me to stay here. Now I feel so foolish...".

-"You were too young to understand the complicated dynamics of a divorce"- he put his hand over her tiny one trying to soothe away any remaining hurt.

The waiter chose that moment to return with the _Nachos_ and realising what he was doing he took his hand away quickly like it was on fire.

-"No need to be shy"- Mateo said with a knowing smile"- "Couples should be able to be loving in public. What's a bit of PDA"- he seemed to be either ignoring or not understanding all the deadly glares he was sending in his direction. No way in hell he was typing him more than 12%- "Enjoy your _Nachos_ "- he left grinning from ear to ear and mouthing something about " _amor en el aire_ ". It sounded quite ominous to him...

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

-"Thank the person who recommended you this place. These Nachos are scrumptious. Probably the best in the world, no, the universe!"- he proclaimed.

She didn't know if she believed his over the top statement but she was glad he was enjoying the food. She hadn't been sure Mexican food was his thing but this morning everything seemed to be working like a well oiled engine. It had felt nice to have a walk snuggled against him because it was cold of course! there was no secondary motivation... at all...

Then when they had been talking about her move to L.A. he had tried to make her feel better about it and about her long feud with her father. Then Mateo had broken off the moment. She'd dislike him if it hadn't been so funny see Hodges get all worked up about the waiter confusing his clumsy attempt at withdrawing his hand with shyness about public displays of affection.

-"Believe it or not, it was actually thanks to Catherine Willows. Her sister Nancy came here and loved the place and then Nancy told Catherine and she obviously told Sara and here we are".

-"It sounds a bit like a Chinese Whispers game but with a 100% success rate"- he dead panned.

-"Now that you say it..."- she said smiling- "I used to play that a lot when I was a kid. Once we managed to change "Let's go to Japan to have fun" to "I hope your plane will crash" or something similar".

-"Wow, I hope none of them decided to be pilots".

-"Nah. I think one is a doctor, another a hair stylist, a university Physics Professor and I lost contact with the rest of them".

-"That was a rhetoric question, you know?"- he smirked at her.

-"Hey, don't tease me"- she said and accompanied the sentence by taking the last two Nachos for herself- "To teach you a lesson"- she felt tempted to stick out her tongue to add playfulness to the gesture or to add insult to injury depending on the point of view.

As if sensing they had ended their _aperitivos_ , the waiter appeared with their orders. A half startled-half panicky expression ran through Hodges' face for little more than a pair of seconds. It probably was due to the heart-shaped mounds of rice on their plates. By his expression, anyone would have said it was human-eating rice or a nasty collection of the love child between Varicella and Ebola Virus.

-"Here are the dishes. If there's anything wrong, don't doubt to call for me. Hope you enjoy!"

-"Everything is perfect"- she answered before Grumpy Dwarf could even think of complaining- "Thank you"- she smiled at him.

Against her pre-emptive attack, he retaliated by starting with the rice and messing up the cute little red hearts. He certainly could be pig-headed as heck.

-"If you want some, tell me and I'll cut a portion for you"- She almost felt guilty for calling him Grumpy in her head after the offer.

-"Only if you try some of mine"- she quipped back.

* * *

They had been eating while sharing comments of how tasty it was and simply enjoying the meal. No sooner were they finished that Mateo appeared like a ghost from behind her with the Menu of Desserts.

-"Wow you scared me".

-"I'm sorry señorita"- he smiled apologetically- "Do you know what you want?"

-"I'd like some sweet _Enchiladas_ "- answered Hodges.

-"Oh, perfect. Those are two people only but I'm sure you'll enjoy feeding the dessert to each other. ¡Qué romántico!"

She hardly suppressed a giggle. If Mateo had been a relative of Hodges she'd be left wondering if he was trying to get Hodges to an early grave via ruptured aneurysm to get his inheritance early...

-"Oh, I'm sure David would love to share it. Didn't you just say you loved sharing your food just moments ago sweetie?"- Perhaps the sweetie had been a bit too much trolling.

He seemed to slowly regained his motor skills but not before the waiter had gone off to order their dessert.

He didn't say anything but he seemed a tiny bit ticked off.

-"Hey, I'm sorry I said that. I didn't want to embarrass you. It was just a bit of innocent fun"- she apologised.

-"I know"- his face softened losing any kind of hardness it may have contained- "I just think you and I shouldn't..."

He was interrupted by the waiter with a plate filled to the brims with chocolate and cream. You could barely see the sweet enchiladas underneath.

"Our cook made it special for you after I told her we had a couple of love birds"- she saw Hodges face palming out of the corner of her eye- "I'll leave you to it. Call me if you need new napkins. I'm at your service".

At this point they were the only people left from the morning rush or so it seemed so they had all the room for themselves granted the exception of the possible visits of the waiter.

-"I think I'm going to need insulin after I finish this"- he joked.

-"And me. Two shots. For sure"- she added and arming herself with courage, continued- "I told you I'm sorry if I've done stuff that has embarrassed you but that doesn't mean I don't like you or that I think a relationship between us is doomed from the start so don't assume that.

He looked surprised and shocked. Maybe not as much at the news but at that she had gotten the courage to take out the open secret. She also hoped part of the surprise was because he could sense that she truly meant what she was saying but she wasn't going to expect too much. It only got you more hurt and disappointed.

She took his silence as a chance to present her case.

-"You must have already figured out that I've liked you for a long time. You'd be blind if you didn't. I even kissed you"- he seemed ready to interrupt her at that moment so she quickly added- "I know it wasn't in the best of circumstances but the truth is I had wanted to kiss you for a long time before that and that I still do"- she felt very vulnerable confessing that.

-"Yes, I noticed some of it. I'm not completely blind. Maybe one-eyed 'though. But Morgan, I think you should look for someone better and not settle for me. I'm just too jaded and cynical. I really don't know how you could even have a crush on me"- he certainly wasn't the King of Self-esteem.

"It's not simply a crush and please don't belittle yourself David. I just can't imagine spending time with someone that's not you. When I'm with you I feel like I can be myself and I love that we always manage to have fun together with the silliest of things. I'm also really attracted to you"- she felt herself blush a little"- I've wanted to kiss you all night, no, scratch that, all week. You can try to push me away but my feelings are not going away so easily. Please trust in my judgement. I know we can work together. Please, give it a try"- she looked at him with her big blue eyes trying to convey everything she felt to him.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He felt overwhelmed by her declaration. Everything this morning had gone against his initial, vaporised by now, plans and ahaainst his better judgement but he had been having such a great time even with their eager waiter. Now Morgan had told him how she felt and was looking at him with those clear puppy dog eyes of hers. His last thought was that he should never get a dog, not because of Kobayashi Maru, his cat, but because how weak he was to puppy dog eyes, before succumbing to them.

-"I like you too. I really really like you"- saying it aloud made him realise how true this words were- "I may or may not deserve you but I want you so, sure, let's give this a try".

Morgan caressed his cheek with her right hand and leaned towards him to kiss him. It was a sweet unhurried kiss. She tasted a bit spicy from the food but underneath there was that taste he hadn't forgotten from all those months passed, only less salty this time because instead of crying she had a beautiful smile on her face.

-"I can't believe I've caught the elusive David Hodges"- she said half laughing as she gave him a peck on the cheek.

-"Hey, I'm not a wild animal to be captured" -he teased back snuggling his face in the crook of her neck and kissing her softly there. She shivered slightly. He had always wanted to see how sensitive Morgan was but now wasn't the moment so he straightened himself. Morgan looked a bit disappointed.

-"Don't worry. I'm not rethinking this"- although maybe I should, said a part of his brain that he proceed to tie up, put on cement shoes and throw of the harbour of his brain- "I just thought we should eat the Enchiladas before they get cold. Maybe we should give a romantic show to pay our extravagant waiter"- saying that he cut a small portion of the dessert dipped it in the chocolate and cream and lifted the fork towards Morgan's mouth. She seemed pleasantly surprised and quickly caught on the game.

Not much later, they turned to "awwing" noises of happiness from their waiter. Hodges made an effort not to gag at his behaviour and instead adopted an overly sweet saccharine-like tone of voice.

-"Are you enjoying the dessert my little dove?"- she had tears in her eyes from suppressing the laughter at his charade- "Are those tears of happiness at the deliciousness of the _Enchiladas_ my sweet sweet love?

Morgan was doing everything she could to swallow the bit without choking because she was almost convulsing form laughter that she managed to cover as a coughing fit.

-"Oh, how adorable you too are. Young love is so sweet. I'm going there to get you some discounts. You have to return _otra vez_ ".

The moment he was out of ear, they both burst out laughing. It was one full minute of non-stop hilariousness. When one stopped, the other set them off again. Finally they managed to calm themselves and finish off the dessert. Mateo did bring them some discounts to use the next time they came and they asked for the bill.

-"Don't you feel kind of sorry for having tricked such a nice man?"- Morgan asked him.

-"Kinda. That's why I'm letting him a 20% tip"- he answered.

-"I should invite. I asked you to come"- she stated.

-"Well, how about we go Dutch"- it was a good compromise in his opinion.

-"Deal"- she took out her hand for him to shake and he took it and lightly kissed her palm where it was injured.

They paid, said their goodbyes to Mateo and were out of the door. No sooner had they walked a few feet along the way, that Morgan surprised him by pushing him against the wall and initiating a kiss. It started soft like the first although Morgan's hands were deeply clenching his shirt but it got rougher and hungrier. She introduced her tongue into his mouth, such a soft arousing little thing exploring his palate and tickling his teeth. He retaliated gaining momentary control and biting her lower lip gently provoking a moan that made him feel everything a thousands times more.

He wanted to learn every detail of her. He wanted to lick every inch of her body if that meant he got to hear more sounds like those she'd made but he knew they had to be back to the Lab. It was actually Morgan who had enough self control to stop the snogging session.

-"Damn it" - she took her vibrating phone out and answered a text on the offending object. "It seems Mitchell got a bit worried when I didn't immediately answer his pager. The ex-partner of Martin Atkins' plane has arrived and he is on his way to the Lab so regrettably, we should get going"- she certainly seemed annoyed at the interruption.

-"I'll wait until you finish your shift and I'll take you home. I promise to be a gentleman and only ask for a goodnight kiss"- her face lit up and that made everything perfect.

-"I didn't know you could be so smooth"- she teased- "I'll take you on the offer so no take-backsies".

So much had changed in the short time they'd left the Lab but they could still joke between themselves and that was probably the most important thing for him. He felt really alive and like 10 years younger. He couldn't believe his luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Again I'm really sorry for publishing this late. It's not even Thursday where I live... although it is Thursday by this website at least and that counts for something, right? right?? My internal voice is asking me to stop deluding myself. I'm super tired I'm so going to fall asleep if I try to re-read it for typos so I'll do that tomorrow.
> 
> What do you think of this chapter? Did it feel forced? Are you happy they are together? Are they cute? Are they hot? Are they more boring than a 60's PSA? I totally picked one of the less romantic types of restaurants what made Hodges mistakenly feel safe. A pity I don't think I really pulled off Morgan's confession or Hodges' reaction. Well, tell me what you think on a review. I hope next week I'm a more reliable and responsible author. Have a really nice week and for those who get presents on January 5th or 6th, good luck with buying them and I hope you receive something you like a lot! See ya soon lovelies!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update! We are still not halfway to the finish line. Enjoy!
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
>  **A/N:** Here I am again. I had an awful day today in an exam revision. That teacher is a complete ass. It felt like I was talking to a wall. But anyway, enough about me. They are now together at the moment but for how long? DUN DUUN DUUUUUN *dramatic music plays* Don't worry I'm not messing with them in this chapter. In fact this is meant to be a chapter where we advance the case to get closer to finish it and centre ourselves into the romance which I'm kinda scared of writing :P If you've read this far, it must mean you are enjoying it so I hope to keep you interested. Now before we start this chapter, what do you think it's the answer to the case? Do you know what the kidnappers are after? Some of the answers are just ahead!
> 
> Lots of love to my new readers and to those of you who've reviewed, favourited or followed my little fic. Every week there are more of you and that makes me super happy and a bit more motivated which it's much needed since I'm a professional procrastinator XD On with the show!

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

-"What are we going to do with the people in the Lab?"- she asked for his opinion- "Do you think they'll notice?"

-"If you keep grinning from ear to ear, of course"- he teased her even 'though he knew he mirrored her completely at the moment. She playfully punched his arm- "Actually I think we should wait before telling them. Just enjoy being together until one of those nosy people figures it out"- he rolled his eyes at that- "I don't like the idea of them putting their noses where they don't belong and, who knows, maybe in a while you will realise I'm just a big Grinch and decide it's best to break off the relationship and move to Alaska" -he said half kidding.

This time the punch wasn't so gentle.

-"Ouch"- he rubbed his arm- "Point taken".

-"Good because I won't have my boyfriend belittling himself"- she paused- "We haven't really discussed it but..."

-"Yes, we are together and if boyfriend/girlfriend are the labels you prefer, I love the idea of being your boyfriend"- he quickly reassured her.

-"Wow. I really was expecting more resistance"- she seemed slightly dumbfounded.

-"I know I've been a pain in the ass every step of the way but I'm a hundred percent sure I like you and want to be with you and since I've already made sure you feel the same, you are stuck with me now"- he tried for a little humour at the end.

She hugged him tightly like she feared he wasn't completely real and he warmly returned it, trying to convey that he wasn't going to disappear in a puff of smoke, not now, not ever while she still loved him or needed him as a friend, lover or any other capacity.

-"Hey"- he softly whispered in her ear- "I'm sorry for making it so difficult".

She hugged him tighter for a second and then she let go.

-"Wow, you really are strong. I think you broke a rib or two"- he said rubbing his torso.

-"You liked it so don't grumble"- she stuck out his tongue at him grinning.

She was so adorable that he pulled her closer to kiss her. He couldn't believe how soft her lips felt. Her mouth was warm and inviting but he kept it short because they were just around the corner from the Lab and someone could see them. Also, no matter the magnetic power she had on him, they really had to come back soon. In fact he was pretty convinced Henry was going to kill him for letting him alone so long...

-"Damn. I really have to go now. I hope we can find Jennifer soon"- she didn't seem very optimistic.

-"Yes, I hope so too".

They said their goodbyes at the door and Morgan rushed off to the Interview Rooms Area. Watching her retreating back he wondered how he was going to get any work done this morning. The idea of clocking on time and going home didn't even cross his mind.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

All in all she still managed to get there early. It still took a while for Mr. O'Connor and his escorts to make their way from the airport to the Lab which Mitchell and her passed brainstorming about the case. Their theories couldn't be more different and when she told him about how he had made himself bleed with his owns nails, Mitchell just took it as confirmations he was suffering from some kind of sociopathic tendencies. Neither of them could fit all the pieces together in a semi-reasonable manner so they were pretty anxious to get their hands into his ex-partner. Before they could get any consensus, Officer Mitchell received a pager telling him Andy O'Connor had arrived.

-"Time to get some answers"- said Mitch.

No matter how cliché that sentence was, there was no phrase more appropriate right now.

* * *

The three of them were seated in those uncomfortable clunky metallic chairs. Introductions had been made. Police Detective Andy O'Connor was no longer a beat cop. The sandy haired 50 something years old had passed the Detective examinations some years past. He seemed like a stoic man used to rough situations. Someone, that years ago and maybe even now, you would have preferred to have on your side in a street fight. He also gave a certain air of having been around the block one too many times.

-"Well. I knew I would be hearing about lil' Martin Atkins sooner or later"- he commented.

-"How so?"- Mitchell asked.

-"I don't know. I just had a hunch"- he shrugged- "What do you want to know?"

-"We think he might be involved directly or indirectly in the murder of his wife and a friend of his daughter and the kidnapping of said daughter"- Mitchell told him.

-"What the fuck!?"- he swore- "No way. He may not have been the cleanest copper in the Department but no way in Hell can he have done that".

-"What did you mean with "Not the cleanest"? Was he dirty?"- Mitchell asked frantically.

-"Look I just worked with him for a pair of years. It's not like we were soul mates"- his reticence was obvious- "I don't think I can help you".

-"You've taken a plane to come here. You have something you wanted to share with us for sure"- Mitchell insisted.

O'Connor bit his bottom lip uncertain but didn't say anything. Mitchell seemed to really really need a glass of whisky or any other hard drink.

-"Mr. O'Connor, we don't know for sure that Martin is involved but it really seems like his past is catching up with him, specially those years when you both worked together dismantling the MacAuliffe Family's drug businesses"- she tried to convince him-"We don't know the situation his daughter Jennifer is in right now. Child kidnappings have the best chance at a good resolution if they are solved within 24 hours and time is running out. We need you to help us find her before it is too late"- she pleaded with him.

-"All right all right. You convinced me"- he acquiesced still looking a bit unsure about if he was doing the right thing with respect to his old partner- "I don't have any way to prove anything I'm going to tell you. It's just speculation. Understood?"

-"Sure"- they both hurried to assure him.

-"Well, you already know we got most of the MacAuliffe Family behind bars. It was a very dangerous and really long operation. Martin came into it when we had already identified the major players. He was young and fresh of the Academy and we though he'd made a perfect undercover cop for this operation because of two reasons. One, he was of Irish lineage on his mother's side and two, he hadn't been a copper long enough so the scoundrels wouldn't know his face. Maybe he was too young but we needed people for the undercover operation"- he sighed- "We got him a fake identity and documents to match it and let him loose. I was his only contact with the Force. He started making friends with the low rung members, the dealers mostly, until he got close with some cousins of the main branch of the family. It took him 8 months to get to even meet anyone of the people we thought controlled the game".

-"Sorry to interrupt you but, speaking of that, do you know the man in this sketch?"- Mitchell showed him the portrait of the guy who escaped on the Harley Davidson.

-"Oh, I think that's Freddie Daly. He was a bodyguard/grunt soldier in the organisation"- he told them- "Actually he was one of the first people Martin befriended. They were quite close for a while before Martin kept climbing the ladder. He later left the city for greener pastures after a small mess with the daughter of one of the higher ups. He got out just in time to miss the big raid".

-"That might explain why Martin contacted him. Someone who he thought also had a grudge against the MacAuliffe Family who could help him get info... what he didn't know was that he was the one of the people who had perpetrated it"- Morgan pondered out loud.

-"What happened later and what were those rumours or speculations you were so cautious about?"- Mitchell asked him.

-"Eighteen months on and we almost had enough to start the big haul but something de-estabilised the situation so much that we had to postpone the operation for 4 more months"- were his cryptic words.

-"What was it?"- they were both completely caught up in the story.

-"A clandestine shipment had come in with the biggest amount of coke that we had ever seen. We obviously wanted to confiscate it but we couldn't do it without putting in risk the operation and our undercover agents. In the end we had to intervene and because of Martin Atkins no less"- it seemed he still felt bad for how things had gone- "I'll cut the details short but let's just say that it almost cost her life to one of the undercover cops but we did get the drugs when the oldest son of the MacAuliffe Family, Tierney MacAuliffe, came to the buy. There was just one problem, the suitcase with the money he had brought to buy the goods was nowhere to be found".

-"And you believe Atkins took it and then later left the police and went to Las Vegas living off that money?"- Mitch asked.

-"Without a doubt".

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

As he had already imagined, Henry was furious at him. The moment he saw him he started fuming.

-"Why didn't you tell me you had such a big back log? Sara and Nick are this close" - he inched his thumb and index together- "of asking for your head".

-"I'm sorry"- he really was because Henry was a good guy who didn't deserve this- "but Morgan really needed me. Look, I promise I'll take care of the clean up of your Lab everyday this week apart from what we had already accorded".

-"Okay, you are forgiven"- he gave in pretty easily to such sweet offer- "I really hope it was worth it because there's tons of test tubes, pipettes and Erlenmeyer flasks to wash".

-"It was"- he replied containing the smile that pushed to get onto his face when thinking back about the last two hours. He had been playfully taunting Morgan about that and here he was about to spill the beans himself... He was just so happy. Would they notice something if he was less than his usual snarky self? Henry took it upon himself to take him back to reality from that whacky train of thought.

-"Oh, I almost forgot. D.B. came by your lab. You might have to go see him when you clock out and do some explaining I'm afraid..."- he informed him.

-"Damn"- he thought to himself and to Henry he said- "Well, that's just my luck"- he said sarcastically rolling his eyes- "Anything else I need to know? Have I been fired while I was away"- he inquired only half seriously.

-"No, but maybe it would improve morale"- he retorted back- "Well, it's not for you but I just managed to prove none of the samples we got from the nails of the victims belongs to Martin Atkins. I hope they get me another sample to check them against but right now they are going through C.O.D.I.S. It was very hard to do because some samples were very degraded and...".

He stopped listening. He didn't know if this was good or bad news. Morgan's theory had been that the father hadn't committed those crimes.

On the one hand this almost confirmed that Morgan's hunch was right. There were two unidentified blood types and two people breaking into the building so if Martins' blood didn't match either of them, it was really unlikely he was the killer and kidnapper. It just wouldn't be very plausible.

On the other hand that meant that the only person they had in custody wasn't the culprit and that got them back to Square One of this vicious game. They had minimal clues right now. Meanwhile it couldn't be easy for Morgan to imagine the poor girl in who knows what situation. He felt the urge to go comfort her but he could do something better with his time.

-"Henry, I got to go. Don't put off telling Morgan or Finn about this"- he told the other man.

-"Don't sweat it. I'll call them ASAP"- he assured him.

He hurried back and started cracking at his back log. As soon as he finished with that, he could get working some more on getting a clue from where that damn marine spore, he had recently identified, had come. He was good at this and he was going to prove it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Thank you for reading! All of you deserve a bigger and tighter hug than the one Morgan gave Hodges. I give lots of bear hugs IRL and I wonder if Morgan's hugs hurt like mine XDDD Yep, I'm totally flippant. I promise I'm not high as a kite. In fact I don't even drink because alcohol tastes like piss to me *yuck* Back to topic, next week, CSI returns. Yippee! I hope it gives me inspiration but I kinda doubt it. Well, what do you thought about this chapter? Boring? Interesting? Needs more work? Are they cute? They make you want to puke? I want to hear your opinions so please write a review. You can write them on that big box just below this author's note. Come on, don't be stingy and drop me a couple of sentences to know how to improve. Lots of hugs for all of you dear readers from this n00b Spanish author =)
> 
> PS: Writing with a cat on your shoulder warming half your face is lovely but makes you sleepy so don't try it XP


	13. Two messed up people. A CSI Fanfiction: Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe you'll like this chapter but I think you'll really enjoy next week's more. I'm such a tease XD
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
>  **A/N:** Thursday comes around and so does a new chapter of this tale. I'm writing this one in advance because I have a pretty hard exam next Monday on the happiest subject on Earth /sarcasm. Can you guess? You can try to figure out what's the subject of my exam but it's pretty unlikely you'll get it right with so little information. I can say it's something that's almost universally feared and nope, it's not spiders or heights or closed spaces and I don't think there're subjects dealing with them unless you count Psychiatry =P That's three hints you have there if you feel like guessing. Now, last week's chapter was mostly about the case. They are getting closer to the truth but not to catching the people implicated or finding the little girl. This week's is case-centred again. Are you okay with that or do you prefer more romance-centred chappies? Any fans of a healthy medium?
> 
> Every week you surprise me with new encouraging reviews and simply by taking the time to read my little fic so I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Everybody who takes the time to read, review, favourite or follow my fanfic is a special person to me and I'll endeavour to make as good as possible a story for you. PS: I talk too much. I know...

* * *

**Morgan Brody's POV**

Now she could understand better why Martin had been so angry at her when she interrupted his meeting with the dark-haired thug, Freddie Daly. From his point of view he could be a good source of information, or at least an opening into his old world, and she had sent him packing, running away in his motorbike. He didn't know that he had been talking with the killer of his wife but... still... maybe if she hadn't been there he would have managed to save her daughter... somehow. Her rational mind knew it was less than unlikely and probably would have resulted in both of them getting killed, but she still felt guilty.

If at least they had something more to go on! She sighed. It had been so easy to forget about this while being with Hodges out of the Lab but now she couldn't keep herself from having small flashbacks to her own experience. Not thirty minutes ago she had seen another picture of the little kid when they were showing it to O'Connor and she had imagined the girl tied up and brutally beaten and then it was like time had rewinded itself and she was again in that moist room with a collar in her neck. Luckily she had been able to pull herself back and nobody had noticed her 2 minute black out. This wasn't OK but she didn't know what to do... she just didn't want anyone else figuring it out and thinking she was crazy and unfit for work. She didn't know what would remain of her if they took away her job.

Work, she reminded herself again. That was something she had to be able to do. She cleared her mind into an almost blank state. Maybe they didn't have enough clues but giving up or feeling guilty served no purpose right now.

They had taken a short pause to get some coffee for the detective they were interrogating. It was early morning after all. Mitchell came with the three smoking hot beverages.

-"Thank you" -she gave a thankful smile to the officer.

-"Yeah. I really need it" -agreed Detective O'Connor giving a sip to his white mocha cappuccino.

-"No problem" -he returned her smile as he placed his own black coffee in front of him. He waited until they were all comfortable sipping their drinks in silence for a pair of minutes before going back on topic- "You didn't seem all that surprised when I told you on the phone that an incident had happened in Las Vegas. Why was that?" -Mitch could be very perceptive and this pointed question proved it.

-"I didn't know Martin was here but I still work in the same division and we keep track of the MacAuliffe Family. Tierney got a lighter sentence than he deserved because his father had curry-favoured and bribed half the judgeship and threatened and intimidated the other half"- he shrugged his shoulders- "Whatever the reason, since he got out early, he has started doing investments in Las Vegas. He has opened several small businesses and a few clubs and cafés. Such a sudden expansion troubled us so we followed it closely thinking maybe he was trying to launder the drug money he was making there in another city. Still, why Las Vegas had me completely stumped until now"- he rubbed his neck like he was feeling self-conscious- "When Tierney actually took off two months ago for the gambling capital of the world leaving behind his lieutenants to take care of his businesses, we were convinced something bigger must have been about to happen".

-"Didn't you think it would be wise to warn someone from Las Vegas Police Department?" -Mitchell inquired harshly.

-"We didn't know if they had bought the local police and we didn't want the fact that we were investigating them to get to their ears as a filtration, innocent or not. We are close to making arrests and we didn't want to fuck up like last time" -he shamefully confessed.

Mitchell pressed his fingertips against his temples trying to massage away the stupidity of it all but didn't say anything out loud.

Her pager sounded in that moment and she read Henry's message.

-"Hey Officer Mitchell. The DNA evidence we recovered from the victims doesn't match Martin Atkin's DNA profile from the sample in his work file" -she informed him.

-"I knew it!" -O'Connor exclaimed- "He might have been a bit of a scoundrel but not a murderer".

-"That's a great line of defense. You should recommend it to his lawyer" -Mitchell wasn't happy about losing their only suspect in custody.

-"No need for sarcasm. I was just saying".

-"You are right. Sorry" -he apologised- "Morgan, go pick the DNA evidence and meet me in Martin's interview room. I think it's time we put all the cards on the table".

-"Sure".

-"Mr. O'Connor, we'd like you to stick around at least for a day or two to..."

The conversation was cut off when she closed the door behind herself and headed to get the results.

* * *

**David Hodges' POV**

Against his previous assumptions, he felt so motivated that he breezed through his backlog. Sara, Nick and Greg had been very pleased to finally get their results. Greg had even patted him on the shoulder... That had been awkward and probably more in sympathy for Morgan's attack than anything else. Well, he guessed he could survive one or two pats if it made Greg feel better, as long as he hadn't just been going through the contents of a trashcan full of hot dog leftovers.

Still he was up against the wall with getting something new out of the marine spore. He had identified it as Cirrenalia Macrocephala although it didn't have a bigger head than its cousin Cirrenalia Tropicalis so maybe it was the namer who had a big noggin over their shoulders. Palynology dorky jokes. It was a type of spore that grew on floating timber on the sea but, since he doubted there were many boats in Vegas but plenty of stuff made out of wood, it didn't really give him much information. Maybe it would be enough for Morgan and Finlay.

He was still trying to find something to narrow it down when D.B. came through the door.

-"Hey" -he greeted him- "Didn't your shift end like thirty minutes ago? Overcompensating for your disappearance or were you just trying to avoid our talk?" -he said seriously.

-"Sorry Russell"- he did his best to try to look regretful- "You know I really care about this job. I promise it won't happen again".

-"Relax" - he chuckled at his panicky expression- "I know you just took a longer break to have breakfast with Morgan who had just gotten voluntarily discharged from the hospital".

He probably looked completely dumbfounded. That man was like an omniscient god always knowing everything that was going on in the Lab even 'though he appeared like another absent-minded boss. In a way, it was much creepier that any pig on a bottle or any of the other oddities Grissom had collected. From another point of view, it felt like a helicopter parent taking care of his already grown up offspring.

-"How...?" -he mouthed.

-"Oh, I was just talking with Conrad and he told me she was to stay in Observation for a few hours. When she came back to the Lab so soon and when both of you were missing from the Lab at the same time... I didn't need to be a genius to put two and two together" -he smiled at him.

-"Sure".

-"And, anyway, that wasn't the reason I wanted to talk with you" -he clarified.

-"No?" -he inquired while trying to scramble in his mind about what could be the reason the boss called out for him and came out with a blank. I mean, he couldn't know they were together before they even knew... right? I mean, he was clever and all but he couldn't see the future and it really was for their own good that he wasn't a mind-reader.

-"As I told you, Conrad called me. He has been worried about Morgan for a few weeks. She has been avoiding him and when he does see her she looks like she hasn't been able to sleep well in days, pallid and with big bags under her eyes, and I feel you can agree that has been the case" -he started to explain- "He told me this in the role of concerned father, not as Sheriff, but I'm worried this kind of case is messing up with unresolved issues about her kidnapping and that it's going to end up in a nervous collapse or an emotional breakdown and I want to avoid that if at all possible, specially for Morgan's sake" -David's stomach clenched at his words, a feeling of dread and worry growing inside him- "Now that she is being reckless and leaving the hospital against doctor's orders... it's putting me in the difficult decision of having to consider benching her. You are his closest friend so I thought I might consult with you" -he stared at him.

-"I haven't been such a good friend this past few weeks" -he admitted- "but although I know this is a troubling case for her, she is a capable CSI".

-"I know she is a valuable asset but maybe some time to deal with what happened last summer..." -he started to suggest.

-"No, that won't work" -he stated firmly- "I mean... She needs to see this case through and she is strong enough to finish this".

He still seemed unconvinced.

-"Look, if you bench her, she is just going to continue working on the case on her own. Just give her a chance".

-"Well, okay. You are probably right. I'll let things as they are for now but I'm worried about her so I hope you keep a close eye on her" -he requested.

-"Of course Russell" -he had been a shitty friend recently, he wasn't going to be a shitty boyfriend too. Wow, it still felt surreal to be dating her.

-"Also, I don't want to see either of you here working when I come back from my crime scene. That's an order".

D.B. left and he thought that no matter what, Morgan better not find out about any of this. Thinking she might be a step away from being put on temporary leave would be a big hit. He had to be sure to act the same as always.

* * *

**Morgan Brody's POV**

Henry had fawned over her well being like a mama duck with its ducklings. Now she remembered that Hodges had mentioned something about telling him she wasn't feeling so fine to get him to cover for his turn. Finally she had managed to get out with the results and Henry's grandmother's recipe of chicken soup that worked not only on colds but also helped injuries heal faster. Henry said it might sound unscientific but he swore by it. He was very sweet.

She caught sight of Mitchell saying goodbye to Finn and entering the interview room so she waved to her friend and hurried to get there. It seemed like today was an endless line of questionings.

Martin had been given a napkin to clean the blood but he hadn't touched it so there were brownish stains were his hands rested on his trousers.

-We've been talking to your ex-partner Andy O'Connor" -his eyes flickered at the name- "and he has told us some interesting stuff" -he paused to let it sink- "I wouldn't have imagined a guy like you had the guts to cheat a drug organisation of millions of dollars and cause his family's demise because of his greed" -he concluded with a grim face.

He had the decency to look mortified for a pair of seconds but soon his face hardened and he stared at Morgan with hate. Even without words, it was obvious he was blaming her for her daughter's continued disappearance.

-"Stop looking at her like that!" -he hit the table- "Stop shifting the blame away from yourself. They came for you and your money and it's your fault they took it out on your family" -Mitchell's voice was filled with contempt but it didn't seem to be making a dent on Martin- "The man CSI Brody found you talking with matches the description of one of the men who entered your apartment and killed your wife Vanessa".

That did make it. He certainly hadn't expected that and his last hope had flown out of the window. It seemed like his whole world had broken down in front of his eyes. The look of desperation and despair in his face was daunting. He had reached his breaking point and then jumped over the cliff.

-"You've been deceived but it's not too late. Just help us" -Morgan pleaded with him- "We want to find her too".

He swallowed deeply and for the first time, he started to cooperate.

-"I thought he really was my friend even after all this time. I thought he was trying to help me find my daughter. I didn't know..." -a silent cry died in his throat- "I've been worse than a loser, than the most stupid mark. I believed him when he said that if I prevented the police from getting involved it would be easy to snatch my little kid back from the boss' hide-out. How could I be so naive?" -he wondered aloud.

-"Because you wanted to believe it" -answered Morgan.

-"By boss, you mean Tierney MacAuliffe?" -Mitchell gave him no break.

-"Yes, I did steal all that money from him and now that he has found me he wants the money back and I imagine he also plans to make me suffer" -he gritted his teeth- "I don't mind going to jail anymore. I just want Jennifer safe".

-"Do you still have the money?" -Mitchell inquired.

-"There's only half of it left. It's on Heron Bank on Security Box number 237 and the code is 892002. The key is hidden inside a baseball on our apartment".

-"Did you receive any ransom note? Do you have any idea where they might have her?" -she questioned him.

-"No, I didn't. Now I think they were trying to lure me on using the kidnapping of my daughter and Freddie, and then torture me for the location of the money. Freddie did say that he thought MacAuliffe had her hidden in one of his clubs but I don't know if that was a lie too or not" -he looked defeated and pitiful.

-"Look, we are doing everything we can to find her" -Morgan tried to reassure him.

-"And are you any closer?" -he angstily retorted back.

Mitchell and Morgan looked at each other knowing they still had nothing solid. They had a list of all of Tierney's clubs but it was a long list and they didn't even know where to start looking. Silence took reign of the room completely.

Then Morgan's pager beeped with a new message:

**Might have new clue. Come to Trace quickly. H**

She smiled and showed it to Mitchell. Hodges had come to the rescue.

* * *

**David Hodges' POV**

-"Hi handsome" -she smiled at him.

-"Hey beautiful" -he replied feeling a little bit self-conscious. He wasn't used to being praised for his looks. Also there was the whole D.B. thing gnawing at his conscience. Well, the sooner they figured the case, the sooner they could obey and go home and start working on getting Morgan to a better place emotionally... if she left him help.

-"What do you have for me? You were smirking when I entered through the door so I'm sure it must be something good" -she really knew him through and through.

-"It might not be the breakthrough you need but I really hope it is" -he said sincerely- "Well, I spent all this time trying to determine something more about this marine spore and if I could figure how it ended in Las Vegas and where concretely".

-"And did you get something?"

-"Not really" -he said and trying to make her laugh he added- "but of course the king of trace wouldn't give up so easily".

He brought some papers over and showed them to her.

-"I realised I was concentrating myself on the wrong thing and I re-analysed the samples looking for clues on a bigger scale" -he paused for effect- "This spore grows on timber found on the sea but there were other common elements in the sample from where the spore came like flakes from a high priced varnish that is mainly used in preservation of valuable artifacts. It made me think this must be either a luxury item or a historical item of some kind and then I called Finn for help because I knew you were in an interview".

-"Yeah, the poor man finally broke down and told us everything".

He didn't exactly feel compassion for him after the crimes he had committed and specially after having hit Morgan but nobody deserved what he had gone through either.

-"Finn gave me the list of all the properties and aliases of MacAuliffe and I scoured all kind of databases and credit charges for his last purchases and acquisitions. In the end I found he had won a 19th century ship's steering wheel in an auction and he was using to decorate one of his new businesses. Luckily there are photographs online of said steering wheel on one of his most exclusive clubs".

-"Now, we'll just have to search that club and rescue her" -she was grinning from ear to ear.

-"The problem is I can't match it with a high percent probability without a sample to get a warrant from a judge and, if we ask for it, we'll be alerting them we know where they have her" -he hated to have to dash her hopes. Seeing her dejected expression, he got closer to her to embrace her.

-"No need to despair just yet" -Finn's voice made his heart make a triple somersault inside his chest while he himself jumped to get further from Morgan- "Archie managed to get a complete license plate and it belongs to MacAuliffe's car. If we add all the evidence, I'm sure the judge will sign on any warrant we put in front of him" -she was smiling happily oblivious to what she had interrupted.

-"Great" -she hugged Finn full of glee. Well, if Morgan was happy, he couldn't begrudge Finn- "I'm going to get my bulletproof vest".

-"No way. You've just got out of the hospital. Moreover your shift ended a good while ago" -Finn reprimanded her.

-"Finn is right" -he said before Morgan could reply- "Also, your father called D.B. telling him the doctor had ordered that you should remain in Observation so if he sees you here..." -he let the rest to her imagination- "Finn and Officer Mitchell are more than capable of getting that warrant and raiding the club.

-"You two are double-teaming against me. Not fair" -despite the complaint she seemed to have given in.

-"Come on, don't be like that. I'm taking you home like I promised" -the last part he said softly only for her to hear.

-"Fine" - she acquiesced- "I'm counting on you Finn".

-"Don't doubt it. This girl will be safe before the day is over if I have any say in the matter" -she promised- "Now get going!"

Morgan left for the changing room and, when she was out of sight, Finn turned to face him.

-"From that the scene I interrupted before, the whispering and the good atmosphere in general I take it you've resolved things" -he was a bit taken aback about what she exactly knew- "Don't worry. I don't mean to pry. I'm just happy for you two".

She marched on to continue his work letting him in the doubt if their dating had been discovered in less than 24 hours. That had to be some kind of anti-record in the Lab. Well, it wasn't like Finn was going to betray them. He preferred to think about accompanying Morgan to home. There would be no prying eyes or ears, just him and her. He was really looking forward to it, so he quickly went to clean up Henry's DNA Lab so he could leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** It seems the case is going to have a happy ending and these two can relax for a while? Any special wishes for the next chappie? And what have you thought about this one? It's a bit longer than usual because I didn't want to stop it mid-case and I wanted to start the next chapter with the going home part. Also I took a ridiculous long time investigating spores taking into account it was mostly irrelevant in the end T_T I should have just parodied Hodges former cat Cinder's name and I'd have gotten more or less the same result =P
> 
> Something very very important that I need the honest opinion of my readers is if you want the story to go darker than it is. I have some ideas about how things will advance and there are two possible ways so if you could tell me if you prefer it as it is or darker, I'd really appreciate it ^_^
> 
> Have an awesome week sweeties! (P.S.: and wish me luck with my exam.) (P.S.S.: Lucky I'm not actually superstitious XP).


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saturday I fell into a river while hiking and I swallowed some stagnant water so now I'm not feeling so good. Here you have this week's repost.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
> **A/N:** I have completely messed up my laptop. I dropped a bottle of nail polish remover on it and now the m, c, v and x keys and the touchpad among other things won't work at all. Yayyyy! Try writing like that and not become completely crazy. Arghhh I am so stupid for letting that bottle even near my computer. Anyway, I am going to try to write the story like this. I hope it works out somehow between a virtual keyboard for the missing letters and Google Chrome's grammar checker. We'll see if I manage it as soon as I return from my respiratory and cutaneous tests to quantify how allergic I am to my cat and other stuff. Thanks a lot to everybody who's read, reviewed, favourited or followed this fanfic, I adore you!
> 
> Today's chapter is mostly character driven and that scares the shit out of me. Will I be able to keep them on character? Will it be entertaining? Will you be asking for my head? The answer to those questions and more after the break!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Everything was so perfect she could barely believe it. After a rough start with the case, they finally were going to rescue Jennifer and to cap such a tiresome day, Hodges was accompanying her home. Someone, who only hours ago was trying to avoid her like she had an infectious disease, was now her boyfriend. All the trouble she had gone for him to acknowledge his feelings and to give them a chance felt worth it now as she walked towards the locker room. She just hoped he had just been joking about being a complete gentleman. She certainly expected something more than a goodnight's kiss now that she had the real Hodges and not just a fantasy one.

She was so distracted she didn't even notice Sara waving at her.

-"Earth calling Brody. Somebody there?" -Sara said chuckling.

-"Sorry" -she felt her cheeks reddening a bit at having been caught completely unguarded- "Just thinking about stuff. Did you need something?".

-"Nah. I just wanted to say bye because I'm going to that "New Technologies in Forensic Investigation" conference in San Francisco and I won't be back until next week".

-"D.B. gave you permission?" -Sara nodded- "That's awesome".

-"I'll use the time to visit my old friends. It's going to be like a mini vacation but don't tell Russell" -she grinned conspiratorially.

-"My lips are sealed" -she grinned back.

-"It's pretty great we managed to apprehend the perp. That way I don't leave Nick stranded. How is your case going?" -she asked with curiosity.

-"It seems we've figured out how it all went down and Finn is going with Mitchell now to check the place where we think they are holding the girl".

-"Nice. Did you catch the guy who whacked you over the head".

-"Yeah. He is in custody. He was under duress and he has other pending charges so I don't want to push charges if it depends on me".

-"If it was me, I would have slapped the bastard at the least".

-"If his little girl wasn't missing, me too" -she smirked.

-"Well, I've gotta go. Try to get some rest. No strenuous activities for the next few days unless you want to have to return to the E.R." - she shuddered as if hospitals gave her urticaria.

-"Eh, of course" - was her bold faced lie. She was not about to tell her what she had planned for the rest of the morning or the rest of the day for that matter. If everything went well she'd have someone to make sure she rested well and had nightmares-less dreams.

-"See you soon!" -Sara said her farewells.

She now had all the locker room to herself since practically everybody from the Night's Shift had already left and the Day's Shift were already on their working posts.

She didn't want to make Hodges wait, so she was pragmatic and settled on what she had worn for breakfast. She obviously didn't have any sexy lingerie in the locker. It bothered her a little but, at least, her underwear matched and it wasn't bunny themed or something childish like that, that would remind him of their age difference. It was silly of her to worry about this kind of details. He would surely chastise her for having so little faith on him.

Once she was ready, she went to wait by his car. Some people bought big sport cars to build their ego or to supplement some deficiencies but Hodges' was a reliable classical car. He took good care of it like of all his possessions. The man was so anal with cleanliness she hoped he'd be able to ignore the state of her apartment after the party with the girls.

The minutes passed and she started getting nervous again. She debated sending him a pager but she knew he would call her if he couldn't come. Finally she saw him approaching at a quick pace with his shoulder bag banging the left side of his back as he ran.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

Morgan was smiling when he reached her position by his car.

-"Fuuuh fuhhh" -he tried to regain his lung function- "I'm... uffh... sorry for being... fuuuuh... late. Didn't know where you'd be waiting".

-"Breath" -she giggled- "You didn't have to sprint here. I wasn't planning on running away with your car" -she joked.

-"I didn't want you to wait" -he refrained from cupping her face. There would be time for it when they weren't in the middle of the Las Vegas Crime Lab parking lot.

-"How do we do this? We can't leave my car here or people will get suspicious" -she pointed out.

-"Oh, that's true" -he hadn't considered that when he had offered to accompany her- "Yeah, I guess we'll have to each take our own car" -he said disappointed. It was a pity they wouldn't spend as much time together since she didn't live too close to the Lab.

-"Well, we agreed on keeping the relationship secret so that's the plan" -she seemed to have taken it in stride- "Do you know how to get to my house?"

-"Sure. I was there on the Housewarming party two months ago. How bad do you think my memory is?" -he asked playfully.

-"Must I remember you of how I had to buy a gift for you mother's birthday and sneak it to you because you had forgotten about it until she mentioned it?"

-"Nope, that's okay" -he grinned sheepishly.

-"Well, then see you there"- she smiled at him before going for her own car closer to the exit.

* * *

The way to Morgan's was pretty uneventful. The road was quiet at this time of the morning when the tourists, the gamblers and the rest of the nighthawks were sleeping and ordinary people were at work. The AM radio was playing news about bombings in the Gaza Strip when he got to his destination.

Morgan had managed to get there first and was waiting with a satisfied expression on her face.

-"You still need to practice your smug smile before you try to use it on the master" -he teased.

-"I won" -she said with the face of the cat who has just eaten the canary.

-"I didn't know we were competing" -he got closer, his eyes trained on those luscious lips- "And, pray tell me, what was the prize?"

-"Well, how about you come upstairs to watch a movie with me? We can even watch that TV series, Firefly was it? that you've been trying to get me to watch" -it was as tempting as the singing of a mermaid but he didn't want to risk sinking their ship.

-"Today has been a long day and you are injured. No need to rush this, we have all the time in the world" -he told her caressing her cheek.

-"Okay" -she said reluctantly and added- "but you did promise me a goodnight kiss" -she half whispered it, getting so close that he breathed the same air as her.

-"A promise is a promise" -he said capturing her lips and pulling her against his body.

She responded with equal enthusiasm, her hands travelling all over his back eliciting pleasurable tingles all over his spine. They battled for dominance over the kiss, neither relinquishing or giving up, while they tasted each other and tried to play the other one like the most arousing of musical instruments.

Hodges abandoned her mouth to lick on her pressure point and was rewarded with all kinds of soft little wanton sounds. Encouraged by that, he started nibbling on the spot using his teeth to drive her crazy. When she moaned into his ear, he was the one who was lost, lost to reason, logic or anything that wasn't her.

She had her hands around his nape tracing the tired muscles of his upper back and her tongue was doing circles on the skin of his neck going upwards until she got to his ear.

-"Your skin tastes really delicious Hodges" -she whispered before gently biting the lobe of his ear.

-"Damn" -he exhaled sharply. He didn't want to stop but they were on the middle of the street so he threw caution out of the window- "Does the offer to go watch a movie still stand?

-"Now more than ever" -her pupils, probably like his, were completely blown wide with arousal- "I have popcorn".

-"Popcorn, that's the magic word" -he smirked- "If there's popcorn I'm in"- he gave her an amorous peck on her little nose. Sure it was that the reason he was accepting her offer... NOT.

-"Well, then follow me" -she offered him her hand and he took it following her to her place.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

It wasn't the first time she invited a guy to her home, but this was special, and she wondered if when she entered she should go prepare the popcorn or if she should offer him a glass of wine. She knew that he knew it was simply a subterfuge but she was still a bit worried of scaring him away.

As she introduced the key and opened her door, she started to apologize for the state of her apartment. When he shut her with a forceful kiss against the wall, she forgot all her doubts and concentrated on giving back as good as she got.

Those impish teeth bothering her lower lip, those hands teasing the flesh that peeked below her t-shirt. She used her tongue to lick a trail to his collarbone while her own wandering hands pulled out the hem of his wine coloured shirt and raked his back with her fingernails.

Being able to finally touch it in the way she had wanted to for so long made it all the more arousing. Her pants were a pool of heat and every time she got a pant or a moan out of him, she got more needy.

She guided their bodies towards the bedroom. It wasn't a very elegant march with them stumbling against walls and furniture while trying to shed clothes. He drew a sharp breath when, in a combined effort, her torso was liberated from the tight t-shirt. That certainly did wonders for her self-esteem. Her reaction when she had managed to pry all those little maddening buttons of the damn shirt with his help hadn't been much more restrained. She'd bitten her lower lip and it must have been a seductive sight because Hodges' eyes had turned feral. She liked that look very very much.

When they finally made their way to her still unmade queen sized bed, Hodges only had his trousers and a black sock on. He was a pretty sight but also quite funny so she hid a giggle behind her palm.

-"You little..." -he said smiling- "Let's see if this is funny too".

He embraced her and unhooked his bra skilfully but, before she couldn't comment on that, he had surrounded her nipple with that wet mouth of his making her bite her lips to contain the groan escaping her throat. This was a lot like that dream she'd had twenty four hours ago. She didn't want this to be a dream but if it was, it couldn't stop right now or there wouldn't be enough cold water in the world to calm her before work.

She could feel his hard on trapped inside his trousers so she sensually caressed it over them, the same type of sweet torture he was giving her breasts. Hearing him suppress a whimper of pure need, she took pity and freed it from its tight prison.

Hodges on the other hand didn't stop teasing her, circling and nibbling on her nipples with passion. She needed release, her clit ached and she was nearing a point of no return. What was he trying to do? Trying to make her come just by stimulating her breasts? That was too pretentious even for Hodges.

-"Hodges, please" -she begged.

-"I'm going there now Morgan. You don't know how beautiful you are" -his fiery look travelled over her body leaving a warm trail- "I want to spend hours exploring every nook and cranny of your body but if the princess is getting impatient..." -he teased.

-"Give thanks you are so cute David" - she teased back before a huge surge of pleasure shot through her making her moan.

He had sneaked up a hand to the nub between her thighs. She opened her legs wider unconsciously and she could feel him adjust the position of his arm to continue stroking her clit and tease the entrance of her vagina. She looked for his mouth and kissed him savagely.

It might be impolite to come before having barely done anything to your partner but she wondered if she was too far gone to prevent it. She blindly tried to feel the drawer on her bedside table on her back and she managed to fish a condom. She opened it her teeth, careful not to damage it. She put it on Hodges and squeezed his dick making him squirm.

-"David, I'm about to come" -she said getting from under him and rotating them.

-"Morgan" -he moaned.

He didn't need more to comprehend what she was suggesting.

She got on top of him riding him while he continued to stimulate her clit. Strong waves of pleasure emanated from her core with every touch and every downwards thrust until her orgasm hit her full force.

He must have felt the spasmodic contractions because he reversed the positions helping her ride it and coming himself shortly.

The condom was discarded and they laid there like two lifeless rag dolls, completely spent. They were the image of contentment while they lazily continued gently exploring the other's body, prodding and tickling and just enjoying themselves.

Both agreed that it had been awesome in between playful boasts and giggles. Suddenly the mood turned more serious.

-"Morgan, you know you can trust me, right?" -he was emphatic- "I want to know anything that worries you".

She hesitated about telling him about the nightmares but some fears prevented it. Would he think she was a ticking bomb? Would he think she belonged in one of those sanatoriums of old films? Or would he be angry she had kept it as a secret for so long? She wanted to tell him but...

-"Even if you can't tell me now if there's something bothering you, I'm always here for you" -it's like he knew she had a secret or maybe she was reading too much into it.

Some shards of her protective shield broke. In the darkness of her room next to this man, she felt freer than ever.

Suddenly, both their pagers beeped and then their mobile phones sounded at the same time. They scrambled to their feet to pick them up from their discarded clothes.

-"Morgan Brody speaking, who is this?" -she answered.

-"I'm Officer Mitchell. We just finished combing the club and I thought you needed to know".

-"What do I need to know?!" -she asked frantically, a black pit opening in her stomach.

-"The girl wasn't here although there are some residues we believe might be blood" -he said gravely.

The girl wasn't there. The words resonated on her brain. She was in shock.

-"Morgan? Morgan? Morgan?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I'm again pleading guilty to taking too long to finish this chappie and publishing it, no excuses valid. I'm sorry if you find too many letters missing although I've tried to go slow and pay lots of attention. Well *grins* am I not evil or what? XD Yep, I am a very very bad person for making my characters suffer so much but it's all in the name of drama and at least you got some sexy times. This is officially my first lemon, what did you think of it? Was it hot or did you need a bucket because it was puke-inducing? Too explicit or too bland? Did the scenes flow naturally or was it more like a car crashing against a wall at 200 miles per hour, control dummies and all? Anyway, whatever your opinion, just tell me in a review. I can only get better if you help me notice my mistakes.
> 
> P.S.: The subject I was talking about last time was Oncology. Congratulations to anyone who guessed it =)
> 
> I wish you all a wonderful week sweeties. Enjoy! =D


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm visiting a friend in another city but I couldn't let you guys without a chappie so here it is:
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
> **A/N:** Well, Thursday is here and my laptop's keyboard still isn't working. I felt so self-concious about my first lemon that I didn't re-read it to look for mistakes and typos so I can only hope they didn't detract from the reading experience too much. With my trusty virtual keyboard, I'm embarking on writing this new chappie where I try to make my character's lives harder than before. I'm too evil for their good. At least you can't complain about fanservice... much. You got a lot of it last chapter. This one is also mainly character driven and will probably get diabetics to look for their insulin.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting this fanfic. I still can't believe actual people enjoy my writing so thank you thank you thank you so much! We start off just where we left off, with the phone call with the bad news. How will they react? Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He almost managed to crack open his head tripping over his own clothes in his rush to get to his cell phone. That would have been quite a stupid way to kick the bucket. When he managed to pick up, three rings in, Finn was at the other side of the line.

-"Hey. I'm calling you just in case you are with Morgan right now" -she said hurriedly- "Don't freak out and listen" -with that she managed to cut down any objection he might have had at the implied suggestion and she started explaining- "We've finished searching the Club " _El Galeón_ " and we haven't found Jennifer" -the horrid news made him look in Morgan's direction who'd just started answering her own phone -"Mitch is calling Morgan right now and I wanted to make sure she had some emotional support when she finds out".

-"Thank you Finn. Yeah, she is here with me" -the circumstances cutting down any subterfuge while he desperately tried to piece together all the new information to decide what to do- "Okay. So the kid is definitely not there" -he sighed- "Are there any signs of her having being on the club?"

-"I still don't know much but I hope that will change when I finish processing this".

-"Are the police officers canvassing the zone?"

-"Mitch's colleagues are knocking on doors as we speak" -she answered quick and to the point.

-"Do you need us to go there to help?" -he offered.

-"I'm already pulling a double and D.B. has sent some guy from the day shift over to help so we have this covered. You guys just get some rest and come back tomorrow to take over".

-"Sure" -he could hear Morgan getting agitated and then complete silence which unnerved him- "Look I've got to go. Thanks for calling" -he really owed her a big one for this.

-"It's nothing. Just keep her from doing anything stupid" -she pleaded, the concern palpable in the sentence.

-"Will do"- he replied while cutting off the call and turned his attention to the other occupant of the room.

Morgan looked like she was in shock, completely frozen in place. Even from there he could hear Mitchell's voice calling for her. He sat besides her and stroked her cheek gently. She came back to her senses startled and answered Mitchell, by now panicky, calls.

-"I'm here. I'm okay" -Hodges paid attention to the half of the conversation he could hear- "Yes, I understand. I'm not tired, I can get ready and be there in half an hour" -it seemed like Mitchell didn't appreciate the suggestion by what he could hear- "Yeah, I won't come down the scene until tomorrow" -she gritted her teeth -"I promise on my badge. Yeah, good luck".

After she had finished the call, he tried to take her hand and caress it but she rejected the gesture.

-"What's wrong Morgan?" -he tried to leave completely out of his voice how it hurt to be left out of whatever was bothering her.

-"I don't deserve this... any of this" -she gestured in his direction.

-"What do you mean?" -he inquired a bit worried.

-"I can't stop thinking that if I hadn't being there, they might have just taken Atkins, gotten the money and maybe had released them, or at least the child. The idea that a little girl is stranded in who knows what place and what they might be doing to her... " -seeing such a fiery and strong willed person like that was a new kind of torture for Hodges. He didn't know how to help.

-"They would have just killed them. You know perfectly well they wouldn't have left any loose ends" -he struggled for words to reassure her -"They'll keep her alive and in good health because she is still useful to them and we we'll find her and bring her home sound and safe as if nothing had happened".

-"After that she'll never be okay!" -her outburst caught him unguarded and left him preoccupied, specially when she tried to underplay it immediately -"I don't know why I said that. Yeah, we we'll find her and bring her home" -he must have been frowning or something because she added" -"Really, I'm okay David" -and she squeezed him like he was a plushie- "Just stay here tonight with me please. No more questions or thinking for today".

He swallowed his smart ass answer about being impossible to stop thinking, squishing her back and giving her a loud wet smooch on her cheek that made her laugh. He would have wanted to stay, even if she hadn't asked, but would have probably felt too awkward asking himself. He guessed that postponing the talk for a day wouldn't hurt and he really didn't want to pressure her.

-"Do you have a preferred side of the bed for sleeping?" -he asked with curiosity -"I like to sleep in the side closest to the door".

-"Me too" -she grinned -"How do you plan on taking my place from me?" -she impishly asked.

-"I was just planning on asking very very very politely" -he punctuated each "very" with a small kiss on her neck.

-"Seduction tricks aren't going to work on me mister" - her words were slightly betrayed by the way she was arching her neck to give him better access.

-"How about we share it then?" -he suggested.

-"Who would have guessed Vulcanian Hodges was fan of spooning?" -her sweet tone and the grin she had from ear to ear belied the tease.

-"Well, I can't say I'm unhappy at the idea of sleeping with you between my arms" -he felt his cheeks getting red as he grudgingly admitted that.

-"You are adorable" -she said while hugging him so strongly than he thought he could hear the noise of bones breaking -"Don't be so insecure, although I like teasing you about it, for me there's no one better than you out there" -a yawn escaped her mouth as she finished the sentence.

-"I feel the same" -he said shyly but before getting mushy, he preferred to get practical-"Now, it's past our bedtime and the princess needs to recover all that beauty sleep she has lost this week.

She pulled out her tongue at the princess mention, offended as to be expected, but got up to put on some PJs. He decided to sleep in his boxers and soon, after some visits to the too small but incredibly messy bathroom, they were both set.

With Elisabetta, they had slept each on their side so getting comfortable took a few elbow hits, some loss of circulation and a pretty painful, if you measured it by the scream she gave, pull of hair.

-"Are you sure you are not trying to kill me?" -she said by the end of it giggling. He felt like he was all thumbs.

-"I'm sorry I am so..."- he started to apologise.

-"Shhhhh" -she interrupted him -"I was just kidding. Just hug me tight".

Going to sleep embracing her smashed all the rest of the competitors in his mental list for preferred things to do. He could smell her hair (he hoped that wasn't as creepy as certain horror film blockbusters made it out to be), he could feel the warmth her entire body emanated and, maybe what what's most important for him at the moment, he felt he could protect her from everything while being like this. With the corny sleepy thought that he wanted to repeat this scene all his life, he went to sleep.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

She was dreaming about the time she went to the beach for the first time. She must have been five or six at the time because she already had her little red-headed doll Lila. The sea was so impressive. It seemed to go and on endless. The salty smell was too strong for her so she scrunched up her nose. Her mum was grinning from afar and her dad was calling for her to hurry up so she giggled and ran to catch the hand he was extending. Then someone caught her from behind.

She woke up having trouble telling the difference between dream and reality. She had a big heavy hand forcefully covering her mouth and something over her eyes. She could hear scuffling noises behind her but she couldn't see anything. She remembered that Hodges was sleeping there with her but the noises she was hearing made her lose any confidence he could have escaped and gone to look for help.

The hand covering her mouth was lifted but before she could shout, the attacker rammed some clothe deep into her throat muffling the scream and making her choke. Then it was secured with duct tape. Her wrists and ankles must had been already secured while she was out.

She was bodily lifted from the bed by a heavy built assailant and could hear another person or persons lifting Hodges. She tried to resist but she was no match. Were they MacAuliffe's Family's henchmen? Where were they taking them? Were they going to die just like that? She had no answers and her heart was beating so strongly that she thought it would leave her chest any minute.

She was dropped quite unceremoniously onto a cold hard metallic floor. Another body soon followed and she tried to reach to check if it was Hodges, fearing he was trapped too but, also, with a small part of her wanting it to be him so as not to feel so alone. Before she could get even close someone pulled her by her hair and chained her up to a sturdy metallic object. Several doors were closed with consecutive bangs and she got the feeling they were in a vehicle, something big, like the ones that were used to transport furniture.

The engine was started confirming her theory. Not that that made her even a tiny bit happy. The ride felt eternal and she would have sworn she could feel the cortisol and adrenaline running through her veins as the anxiety of not knowing crippled her. The people in the back of the vehicle didn't utter a single word but the ones on the front seats seemed to be joking and laughing and one of them was calling the other Freddie. This wasn't looking good.

They finally stopped. When they opened the doors the sun rays felt nice on the skin, even on these circumstances, but when they lowered her from the vehicle and she felt the warm sand under her, she freaked out. There aren't many reasons you are kidnapped and brought to the desert. She could even imagine the graves already excavated waiting for them.

She tried again to reach for David. A man to her right laughed boisterously.

-"Trying to see how's your boyfriend?" -he mocked -"Well, I wouldn't worry about him, we are going to treat him real nice" -there was a thud and a muffled scream -"See? We are giving him the royal treatment" -he giggled, such an incongruous sound. Then another thud bigger than before but not followed by a scream -"Oh, it seems like he is trying to not worry you. How cute! Let's see how much he can take before giving in" - there was a series of crunching sounds until Hodges' screams could be heard as clearly as if he hadn't been gagged.

She felt hot liquid tears of rage and powerlessness running down her cheeks.

-"Oh, little bird. I already told you not to worry about him. What we have planned for you is much much worse" -he said in a lascivious tone. If Hodges got away alive, she didn't care what they did to her but she didn't have anything to use as a bargaining chip. She couldn't even get the gag off to try. The only thing she had managed was to bit her lips until they bled.

-"Well, you are useless to us so now say goodbye to your little girlfriend" -silence -"You don't want to say any final words? Oh, right, you can't" -he laughed at his own joke -"Ladies and gentleman enjoying the show, prepare yourselves for the coup the grace!" -she could hear the sound of the rounds of a revolver turning -"There's only one round and five empty chambers. How long will our lucky contestant survive?"

She wasn't going to let Hodges die. She was the one who had been investigating the case. If someone should die, it should be her. She tried to move again but some of them were restraining her.

-"One" - **CLACK** -"Oh, empty".

She wanted to scream for help until her throat gave out, to tell them to stop this madness, to tell David how important he was for her. It all sounded like muffled mumbling on account of the rag down her throat.

-"Two" - **CLACK** -"Lucky bastard".

She was getting her wrists raw trying to undo the ligatures to no avail.

-"Three" - **CLACK** -"Damn. Go die once and for all".

She pushed with all her force but it was like trying to move a mountain.

-"Four, five, six" - **CLACK** , **CLACK** , **BANG** -"Hahahahah".

-"NOOOOOOOO" -she started scratching at everything she could reach screaming her lungs out.

-"Morgan, Morgan, Morgan!" -someone was shaking her -"Wake up! It was just a nightmare. You are okay. You are safe. I am here" -his soothing words entered her sleep-addled brain and she soon started making sense of what had been going on.

-"They killed you" -her voice was too weak and that disgusted her. She didn't want to be anything less than strong in front of him -"Just a nightmare" -she reassured herself and Hodges.

-"Come here" -he hugged her -"Nothing is going to happen to me because I'm never going to leave you alone. Right?"

She shook her head affirmatively but seeing as how he couldn't see it clearly with their relative positions she voiced it.

-"I know. It was just a bad dream" -she was getting more and more relaxed.

-"That's it. Now rest. I'm here to guard your sleep".

In other circumstances she might have teased him for being corny and saying something so sickeningly sweet but, right now, it just felt right. Feeling protected, she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I guess most of you guessed what was going on and that it wasn't real. Did I manage to fool even one of you? Now I want your opinions as usual, did I over-do it with the dream sequence? Too long or boring? Would you have preferred that it was a real kidnapping? Are you bored of the nightmares? Do you think the couple is cute? I wonder if I break their characters, I mean too OOC, specially Hodges when writing the romance and I worry that it's really overly sickeningly sweet as I've said just above and that some readers might not like that. I was going to continue the chappie but this seemed a really good place to stop. I hope you'll forgive me is you were waiting for a longer chapter. I wrote all the damn dream sequence in the first person and then changed it to the third person and now I still don't know how it fits more XD Writers, right? Never happy XP
> 
> I hope you have an awesome week and that you don't procrastinate as much as I (btw I hate hate hate the word much, for such a little word, it has two letters that don't work in my keyboard and I use it continually as if I wanted to torture myself arggghhhhhh. As I told you sometime before, I must be a secret masochist XP). I'll see you again on Thursday! Have fun! (and don't mind too much (grhhh!) the missing letters and typos until I correct them, like that missing "C" in clit in one sentence last chapter T_T Soooorry!). See ya!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I'm sooo late. My life has been a real whirlwind this week and also my internet connexion sucks =(
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
>  **A/N:** This week has just been such a crappy, depressing week. I barely wanted to get out of bed or eat but Thursday comes and magically I recover my energy to fulfill my obligations as a fanfic author and churn out a new chapter at the last minute. I'm actually nomming on some salad and chicken fillet as I go over the notes I have for this chapter and write this author note (while I know even thirteen year olds prepare their chapters more conscientiously than me, writing that sentence still makes me feel grown up and responsible. Yep, I'm deluded alright). Last week's chapter treaded on nightmares, real and fictitious, and today is the start of the next morning. Will the figurative sun rays, since it's late afternoon, make them see things differently? Either more positively or the reverse? Can the light of day reveal more stuff? I'm making it sound more mysterious than it's going to be...
> 
> As always, I really owe you a debt of gratitude for continuing to read, review, follow and favourite my fanfic you lovely people. Well, now to enjoy our sleepy-heads' wake up!

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

Some noises from the apartment next door woke him up. The red glowing numbers of an alarm clock informed him the time was 7:34 PM. Still early rising taking into account the hour they went to sleep but not for that much. He would have spontaneously woken up within thirty minutes anyway, as his internal clock didn't let him sleep more than 7 hours straight. It had always been like that since his college days. It drove his college girlfriend, Marianne, absolutely bonkers. She loved sleeping in until late completely undisturbed, as she was a light sleeper, and she would lash at him for getting out of bed so early, waking her up in the process. His answer that he just didn't want to risk going to the cafeteria during rush hour thus potentially getting late to any of his lectures (thus disappointing his professors) didn't win him any points. Pretty redundant to say that relationship didn't last very long after that conversation.

He was distracted from his ruminations by Morgan, still asleep, snuggling closer to him. She made a very cute face when she was sleeping, so relaxed and unguarded. No worry lines etched on those sweet features. She looked so adorable he wanted to squish her but he contented himself with lightly kissing her right temple, careful not to wake her up. She needed to make up for her lack of sleep these past few days. Besides, that nightmare seemed to have been a tough one and she had been completely drained out of energy after it.

Remembering the nightmare brought back to mind the scratches he had suffered on his arms and forearms trying to calm her down. They were nothing serious but he should get them disinfected. Who knew if there was any flesh eating bacteria in the environment, he shuddered, no need to risk it. He also didn't want Morgan to see them and feel guilty. She wasn't even fully awake when she had done it.

He decided to get up to clean the very superficial injuries. Morgan furrowed her brow displeased at the sudden lack of warmth and curled up in a foetal position. He tiptoed recovering his clothes. It was a harder task than he could have imagined because they seemed to have a life of their own and had flown everywhere. Flashes from last night activities, apart from stirring a visceral lust inside him, put in perspective why he couldn't locate one of his shoes no matter where he looked. Eventually, it appeared below one of the sofas, behind an old newspaper forgotten down there for who knows how long. Meanwhile, he had been putting the clutter away in a try to neaten the living room. Something inside him couldn't tolerate a messy room when there was nothing else, read a half undressed Morgan, to distract him so he vowed to clean it later.

With all his possessions on his grasp, he went to the bathroom to take a shower. It was pleasant from time to time to take a shower without a cat scratching at the crystal panel meowing, half fascinated, half scared of the device. Kobayashi Maru would be so pissed with him for not dropping by in the morning to pet him before going to bed. Food and water he had more than enough always because often he would have to stay in the Lab, so he put plenty on his bowl since the cat was good at managing it without overeating. Moreover there was a grandpa, in the apartment three doors down his, that loved cats and had a copy of the keys for emergencies. They had bonded over their dislike of a tenant allergic to cats who had tried to get the owner of the building to kick cat owners to the curb.

When he was invited to stay in a house, one of the things he liked to do was try on all the weird body wash products they had. In his own house, he only had a simple shower gel that more than did his job but most people had tons of different things. Morgan used a sweet smelling coconut body wash that appealed to his nose. He imagined himself applying it to her luscious body, massaging that sexy torso, and... And he had to stop because he was getting a stiff and now wasn't the time for that.

The scratches in his arms were nothing to write home about. His cat had managed to do more gruesome ones. Only in two or three places the skin had actually broken so it was easy to wash the small bits of dried blood, barely any need for a band-aid. He got out, dried himself and put yesterday's clothes on, ready to begin his Cleaning Mission TM. Rocky's OST started sounding on the background... no, not really. He just got to it with enthusiasm and he really needed it when he saw some mold under the sink!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

What was that delicious smell that was making her mouth water? She sluggishly opened her eyes. 9:07 read the evil clock. Damn, she had overslept. She still felt really tired 'though. Well, it still had to be the most restful night she had in ages, barring that disgusting dream and the fact that the feelings of self-hate from last night remained in her subconscious. Like an animated cartoon where a pleasant smell carries the protagonist by their nostrils to the source, she got up to go to the kitchen to find a hearty dinner and that Hodges had cleaned her house from top to bottom. She didn't know if she should feel lucky for having such a boyfriend or embarrassed he had felt the need to tidy her flat.

The man himself, in one of her aprons, was facing the stove, concentrating on not burning whatever he was cooking. She approached him, circling his waist with her hands and kissed his neck. He returned the favour before returning to the task at hand.

-"Good morning sexy" -was her greeting -"What's cooking?"

-"Morning" -he said grinning from ear to ear -"Just what I found in your fridge and whereabouts. Some hash browns, eggs, sausages, toasts, bacon and rice with veggies and tomato sauce".

-"We are going to be energised this shift" -she commented jokingly.

-"It's important to start the day with a big meal" -he seemed to be channelling her grandmother who, rest in peace, always said that when they complained about the excessive amount of food -"How have you slept? Feeling 100%?"

"Sure, great" -she lied but she considered it a white lie. She actually felt better after resting even 'though she still felt guilty and worried about Jennifer but today she could actually do something about that -"How long until it's ready?" -she asked sniffing the mixture of aromas.

-"Almost ready. You can set the table if you want. I think I put everything in its right place" -he pointed towards a cupboard -"That's where the deep plates go, right?"

-"Yeah" -she said giggling -"Do you know how surreal is that we are having dinner in my house and you are the one who knows where everything is and I'm like the guest who is directed to set the table after being told where everything is?" -she smiled at him to reassure him she didn't feel offended at all.

-"Well, there was stuff everywhere and I had time so..." -he sighed -"Today isn't my most eloquent of days it seems".

-"So you saw it untidy and why the heck not clean it?" -she tried to tease him. It seems she was too subtle.

-"Of course" -he nodded with a smile that advertised how happy he was she understood. She didn't mind he had cleaned at all (she was actually glad apart from promising herself that the next time he came, she would make sure the house would shine because of how clean it would be) but a bit bewildered that he didn't catch why this was a social faux-pas for most people.

-"Do you realise that some people would be annoyed if you tidied their houses without asking?" -she was curious about his answer.

-"Why would anyone be upset at things being cleaner?" -if you put it like that...

-"Because it's their private space that they don't want anyone intruding into or because they'd think you consider them pigs who can't clean after themselves?" -she suggested two possible motives.

-"Oh" -he burrowed his frown in thought -"People are weird" -he said nonchalantly. She suppressed a laugh.

-"You are weird too and that's one of the things I like most about you" -she gave him a peck.

He brought the plates to the table and the conversation went from how silly some social conventions were, to how vital others were, to how mean people could be to those that missed the social cues. Hodges was really in favour of the no touching without explicit permission one and he wondered if he put a sign post in his Lab, if people would comply. She told him that the boys would think it was some kind of joke and he agreed grimacing at the thought of what their response would be. Probably a group hug.

The food tasted really good. They both had an appetite and they inhaled their food, not cookie monster style, but only because they had good table manners. Jokes apart, they finished their meals and conversation came to an awkward silence.

-"Well, I think we should go on our own to work. It would be weird us arriving together. Moreover, I should go change into new clothes and say hi to Kobayashi Maru. Oh, and shave" -he added suddenly remembering while he passed his hand over the stubble.

-"Yeah. I still need to shower too" -she completely understood -"But it's a pity you've already taken one. We could have shared" -I said suggestively.

-"Right now I'm really _really_ sorry too" -his face was an open book in that moment-"I'll see you later".

With a quick kiss and a not so quick second one he parted. Now that he wasn't here, the dream, the case and what was she going to do if things got worse invaded her mind. She hopped on the shower hoping the warm water could clear her head.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

It had taken a bit of prodding from his rational mind to unglue himself from Morgan but he was just arriving at his place.

He had been right on his prediction. The feline barely looked at him and, instead of his ritual of rubbing his head against his ankles which once had costed him a nice vase and a bump on the head, he decided to ignore him completely.

His tries to get his attention only gave results when he opened one of the special occasions' cans and he felt like a father buying his way out of a child's tantrum.

He petted Kobayashi, put on some clothes and prepared some in a small suitcase he put on his car. Then he went to see the grandpa to ask if he would mind babysitting the cat a pair of days if the need arose. Ronald, that was his name, was quite nosy and without any shame asked what was the name of the lucky lady and if it was someone he might know. He mumbled that no, he couldn't know, although as a matter of fact he had introduced them once in the past.

-"Don't tell me it's that cute blonde that worked with you? I hope so" -he exclaimed, nailing it oh so perfectly -"because she was such a sweetie when we met. Oh, and so polite. She asked about my health and all my cats. What a nice woman. Will you give her my regards? Oh, please do. Now I gotta go feed my babies".

He couldn't get a yes or no or anything else edgewise in the middle of the torrent of words before he waved goodbye and entered his home. He was a good man but when he got like that, he was unstoppable.

* * *

Nick and Henry were chatting in the changing room when he entered.

-"Good morning guys" -he greeted them while he started changing into his work clothes -"What's up?"

-"Nah, just talking paperwork about the case we closed last night" -Nick was quick to answer.

-"Morning Hodges" -Henry smiled at him.

-"What's that on your neck?" -Nick inquired quite suddenly ."Henry, it seems that Hodges got lucky last night. That's better than closing a case, don't you think?" -he said smirking.

Henry just nodded affirmatively. Hodges decided to let them tease as much as they wanted. They would soon grew tired.

-"Wow. Elisabetta has totally roughed you up" -he was pointing to the fine red lines marking both his arms. He now really regretted deciding to change his shirt.

-"That was just my cat" -he told them hoping they would buy it and leave him be.

-"Ah, don't be shy. I could recognise that those mark have been made by human nails from a mile away" -he boasted -"and not just from job experience if you know what I mean" -he winked suggestively.

Henry laughed but Hodges didn't find it funny... at all. He was getting very pissed off.

-"You are really lucky you have such a wonderful fiancée. They say Italians have fire on their veins and it seems whoever said that was right" -he was going on and on, completely missing Hodges' expression.

-"Italians might be all the temperamental you want but I'm no longer engaged to one so fuck off" -part of him regretted saying it the same second the words escaped his mouth but a bigger part of him was happy that that secret was in the open now.

-"Uh, oh" -Nick was dumbfounded -"So who's the girl you were with last night?" -he asked.

-"None of your business" -no way he was going to tell them.

-"How mysterious. I'm sure Henry and I can find out" - he said grinning and Hodges felt the urge to punch him even if he knew he was mostly just teasing -"Greg will want to be on the bet too".

He closed the locker's door with far more force than necessary and went on to continue with his day. D.B. gave him a questioning look. Finn just waved as she went to talk with Martin Atkins to inform him about their lackluster findings.

Multiple people came to the Lab to commiserate with him, try to get the juicy details or sometimes both.

What the fuck was with everybody been so nosy today? He shouldn't have lost his calm and he regretted it now. This would make keeping their secret harder and when they found out, would they believe they had gotten involved only after Elisabetta and himself had split up?

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

The radio was playing "Human" by The Killers. It posed some interesting philosophical questions about human beings' character that, thinking about her own dramas, went right over her head.

The Lab was pretty lively today. Soon she found out it was because Hodges had finally told everyone about his split with Elisabetta.

-"Good for him" -she thought smiling.

Some people who knew the two of them were good friends tried to pry. Archie of all people! But she didn't told them anything.

The guys were having a quite intense chat on the break room and sensing it might be about Hodges she decided to look for Finn and send her to get some much needed rest.

She was told CSI Finlay was with Officer Mitchell, giving Martin Atkins the news about the raid.

Her stomach clenched with anxiety but she waited by the interview room to catch them as soon as they left it.

Not ten minutes after she arrived, the door creaked to reveal two very tired looking investigators and a crying Mr. Atkins that was taken out.

As soon as he saw her, he started screeching:

-"It's all your fault. My daughter is dead because of you. I should have killed you" -he screamed while they dragged him to the cells.

She felt like the cloud of darkness, that dulled the colours of everything in her life, had gotten even darker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** I think I might have extended this too much making it boring. Too much introspection, not enough action. Correct me if you disagree and find the pacing great... 'though I doubt it :P At least the chapter is longuish. You have to blame my cat for it not being a bit longer because she jumped on the 0n/Off button while I was on a bathroom break and lost me quite a long bit. I managed to reconstruct it more or less but between that and the keyboard mess, I had less stamina left. Sorry dear readers. You deserve a better writer =P Anyway, thoughts on the situation? Are they going to be discovered by everybody in the Lab soon? Is Hodges being a good boyfriend for not telling her about the stupid scratches or is it going to backfire in a wonderfully awful way? What will Conrad think about it all? Will he find out soon? Probably not at the pace I'm going T_T I especially don't like the conversation on cleaning other people's houses. Kill it with fire! In definitive, I think this chappie is my worst to date. Well, next one will be better... I hope.
> 
> Have a really awesome incredibly marvellous week ahead of you because you deserve it. See ya around!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm about to go to Library to fry my brain a bit more with another practice exam. Wish me luck =)
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
>  **A/N:** Editing errors and typos out of last week's chapter was pretty painful. It was riddled with mistakes and it reminded me of the mess of a chapter I wrote... As much as she would like to believe it, Morgan isn't okay... at all. Whether she confronts it or is forced to do it... we'll see. These last few days, apart from preparing sweets to give to my loved ones for Valentine's Day, I've been trying to sort out my ideas with respect to this fanfic. I can't tell how productive it has been, that's your task =P Please please please, dear 17th chapter, don't suck.
> 
> Anyway, I want to thank my good friends Viku, Alerssa and Zonia for helping me suss everything out and to the lovely people who read, review, favourite and follow this little fic. Trying to pack more into less, I present you this week's chappie. Enjoy!

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

The day didn't get any better. Every time she saw Morgan, Finn or Mitchell, they all had grim somber faces that spelled that things hadn't improved. He couldn't talk to Finn before she left to go home either.

Nick and Henry did come to apologise but Hodges wasn't really angry with them, more worried thinking about the Jennifer kidnapping. Nick had been a bit of a jerk but once he had realised it wasn't a joking matter, he seemed sincere when he said he really was sorry for being an ass. Henry had even cancelled the extra hours he owed him.

He was so swamped with work, two new unsolved murders, that stopping to go talk to Morgan wasn't an option. It physically hurt him when he saw she had red-rimmed eyes and thought she might have been crying.

When the end of shift came, he was adamant to find her and take her home but she told him she was staying to go over the case again and that it would be better if he went back to his own home tonight because she didn't know how long it would take her. She smiled at him and told him not to worry so much so he just asked her to please take it easy.

He slept uneasily, worried, but not knowing what was to come.

* * *

The following day he convinced her to go home just after shift ended. He remembered her she had promised to watch Firefly with him and after failing to find a way to persuade him that she didn't really need to sleep, she begrudgingly dropped the crime photos and came along.

It had been very nice to share one of his favourite TV series with her but, apart from that, it turned out pretty disastrous in the end. She was joking about how she should be jealous of Nathan Fillion given how much he gushed about him. He tickled her and she fought back until they were both laughing out of breath... what took them to end up passionately making out, losing their shirts and having to rewind almost 20 minutes of the show.

It was soon after when things started to go south. She noticed the marks on his arm and he wasn't sure if she bought it when he blamed his cat again. The episode entranced them and Morgan rested her head against his lap. He lazily traced the outline of her left shoulder blade making her shiver. They felt asleep on the couch just like that after having massacred the popcorn.

He was suddenly awakened by a blunt pain in his stomach. Morgan was desperately hitting him. She had her face contracted in fear while she struggled. It took him a lot of effort to finally woke her up and in the brightly lit living room he couldn't hide the blood red splotches of the places she had hit him full force. Her expression when she realised she had attacked him in her nightmare was one of shock and pure anguish. She didn't want to hear him when he told her it didn't matter and that he was okay. It took a long while before she finally let him get close enough to hug her while she cried herself to sleep. He was just relieved she didn't ask him to leave but he felt he was completely out of his depth and getting deeper every time.

It was awkward when they got up and Morgan didn't seem to be able to look him in the eye. He wanted to approach the subject but she brushed it off telling him they would be late for work. When he asked how the case was unfolding, she grimaced and told him they hadn't managed to find any new clues and that she thought Mitchell had already given up. She tried to downplay it but the kidnapping was taking a huge toll on her. She almost got angry at him when he continued prodding.

The rest of the shift they didn't get to interact since there was no new trace evidence to analyse. When he finished work, she again kept going well after they all had left and told him to not wait for her and just go feed Kobayashi Maru. He bought her some food before leaving, grilled cheese, Caesar salad and strawberry cheesecake, in the hopes she'd at least eat something.

* * *

The next few days followed the same patron. Morgan stayed until late in the morning at work, no matter how he tried to coax her, but she insisted he went home to sleep. She look tired and people around the Lab were starting to comment on it and about how she was really quick to snap these days. Trying to speak with her about anything non-job related was an impossible task and she had been skipping breakfast everyday. He found the food he had bought for her untouched on the paper bin in the break room.

Even 'though he knew this case was really important to her, he wasn't going to stay silent any more while the bags under her eyes grew darker and her complexion thinner. He remembered what D.B. had said about her father's concerns but he didn't know what to do. If he talked to the boss, would he bench her? Would that be good? Would she forgive him?

Two events finally turned the balance the other way and there was no more hesitation.

* * *

He could hear the shouting all the way from Trace. D.B. had told Finlay and Morgan to stop working on the kidnapping and reassigned them to a murder investigation and a robbery in the Strip respectively.

-"You don't have anything new to work on and we need all hands on deck" -he tried to persuade her to be reasonable.

-"I can't give up on a little girl" -the blonde CSI was determined.

-"You need to move on. There's nothing more you can do".

-"Would you say the same if this was your granddaughter?" -that was a low blow taking into account Katie had been kidnapped not too long ago -"Sorry. I didn't mean..."

-"Look. I'm your boss and I've told you I need you to process that robbery scene with Greg and that's it" -he ordered her not deigning to dignify that question with an answer.

She woke away briskly while Hodges and many other lab technicians observed from their Labs.

* * *

The other incident happened that very same night although it was next shift when he found out via Sanders.

Greg was behaving very sketchily, pacing up and down but unusually silent for him.

-"I know you said that you wanted to wait for your results here and if you want a place to exercise, I can recommend you a good gym. Just. stop. doing. it. here!" -he knew he was being short-tempered but right now he couldn't care less.

-"Ah... sorry" -he excused himself without his usual loquacity. It was starting to get unsettling how serious he was.

-"Hey Greg. Is something wrong?" -he inquired.

-"Ah. Yeah, but..." -he bit his lip nervously -It's not about me so I don't think I should say anything..." -he answered. It took Hodges about two seconds to put together that he was working with Morgan right now so it was probably about her.

-"Tell me Greg. Is this about Morgan?" -he felt the CSI tense.

-"Yeah" -he admitted -"and I don't know what to do about it" -he sighed.

-"I can't help you if I don't know what it is" -he tried to coax it out of him.

-"You know we were investigating a robbery yesterday, don't you?"

He nodded affirmatively.

-"Well, halfway through processing the scene Morgan disappeared on me. I freaked out. You know about what happened with Holly, right? And taking into account everything that's happened recently..." -he seemed conflicted -"She had left without telling me because she had thought about something that might help her other case, the kidnapping one" -his tone was one of disbelief -"She apologised profusely later and if it had been only that..."

-"What else happened?" -he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.

-"She assured me she had finished fingerprinting the area but she forgot to do the lower part of the shelves, a rookie mistake. Normally it wouldn't even matter but this time the perp had left fingerprints only there and if I hadn't checked, we wouldn't have been able to identify him at all" -he cleared his throat -"I want to think this was just a bad day but... I feel like I should tell D.B. Have you seen Morgan lately? She isn't herself. I'm just worried".

-"I'll go tell him"- he told Greg. He wasn't going to let Morgan self-destruct. Consequences be damned.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

It was difficult to function with that fog that seemed to dim all her senses, tingeing every action with a sense of powerlessness. She cried her eyes out in the bathroom after her encounter with Martin but, after she had composed herself, she was determined to find the child. She could see that Mitchell thought that, if they hadn't found the girl in " _El Galeón_ ", that meant she was buried in some place they would never find, but she wasn't giving up. Finn could barely keep her eyes open at the end of her double shift so she finally went home. Morgan went over the evidence with a fine comb. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't think of anything new.

She stayed until some guy from the Day shift asked for the room. Hodges had already left like she had insisted he did but now she was a bit sorry she had done that. Her apartment felt very cold compared to the previous day and there was nobody to calm her when the nightmares came. She couldn't understand why she wasn't able to control them and why they were getting more violent every time. She curled into a foetal position trembling, scared of falling asleep.

* * *

She didn't manage to advance on the case the next shift. After talking to Finn, she decided to start from zero again to see if she had missed anything but before she could do that, Hodges was there and she let herself be convinced to stop for the day.

Hodges turned into a bright eyed big kid when talking about something he was passionate about. She couldn't resist teasing him about it but it wasn't fair he retaliated. She was very ticklish after all! She didn't think to complain because seeing him flustered and breathless was a really pretty sight. She kissed him senseless and he didn't fall behind. Their shirts didn't last on and only a loud noise from the screen reminded them they were supposed to be watching.

It wasn't much later when she noticed some fine lines running along his arms and forearms that weren't there yesterday when they had sex.

-"Hey. What's that?" -she asked curiously.

-"Oh, this" -he said pointing -"This is just a reminder from Kobayashi Maru not to forget to feed him again" -he said smiling.

-" _He must have been really hungry_ " -she thought to herself -" _but how could he attack his arms if he was wearing a shirt?_ ".

-"Hey" -he warned her -"I'm unpausing it".

-"Wait a second" -she answered returning to the present -"I'll bring the popcorn".

She was so comfortable that she barely lasted an episode before falling asleep.

It seemed a recurring pattern in her bad dreams was being unable to use some of her senses and have her movements restricted. It would probably give some psychiatrist tons of materials to speculate and create convoluted theories although she imagined that her kidnapping answered it pretty well. Occam's razor was king after all. This nightmare was no different.

She had a smelly filthy cloth bag over her head. She was tied tightly to a metal pipe. Her mouth was taped and she could see some light through the fabric. She heard some little girl calling for her mum and she immediately knew it was Jennifer. Then there was a splash and struggling sounds. After a long tense minute, another splash and a bout of coughing. The kid was screaming for them not to do it again, that she didn't know anything, but her cries were ignored.

By now Morgan was pretty convinced they were torturing her by dunking her head into some tub or water source. They repeated and repeated the inhumane treatment while she struggled powerless against her restraints. Finally there was silence. She wanted to cry. She wanted to peel the skin off of the people who could do that to a child.

Someone approached and she knew she was next. When that animal untied her, she started to kick and punch ferociously. If she was going to die, she'd die fighting.

It didn't take her long to understand nothing had been real except the fact she had unleash a rain of blows against her boyfriend. She felt sick to her stomach, revolted at herself. How could she have done that?! David was saying that it didn't matter but it did. Even if it hadn't actually caused him any pain, it would still be awful but judging by the colouration of his torso and her stinging knuckles, she knew she had caused damage. She thought to ask him to leave. She didn't want to hurt him anymore. But she was too weak and soon she was accepting his kind words. She felt asleep knowing this couldn't continue like this.

The next morning something had shifted inside her. She knew she needed help but she didn't want it. She didn't want to admit out loud she needed help. She wanted to keep going. So she evaded Hodges' questions and got annoyed when he insisted. She evaded him because then she couldn't hurt him. She evaded D.B.'s requests she took on other cases. She evaded sleep as much as she could because then she would be so tired she would sleep soundly. Of course that was in theory and it didn't translate well in practice. She started evading food too because the nausea in the pit of her stomach that had appeared when she'd realised she'd hit Hodges, hadn't subsided. She even dumped the food Hodges' had bought for her so he wouldn't notice she hadn't eaten it. She avoided people in general because then they wouldn't find out she was having continuous flashbacks to her kidnapping that were making it hard to differentiate between what was real and not.

After a pair of days of this, instead of feeling weaker, she actually felt stronger. Sure she was paler and there were bags under her eyes but that was normal after sleeping only 3 hours a day and staying indoors working. She felt she could keep at it with this rhythm indefinitely. She was sure she would find something, anything, and once she did, everything would go back to normal. Yeah, everything would be perfect.

* * *

She couldn't understand how could D.B. have done this to her. She was sure she was tremendously close to cracking the case open. The sentences in the report made a different sense to her now. It's like they had gotten a different secret meaning now that only she could uncover. It sounded a bit nutty even to her but she could see it and it's hard to deny what you see with your own eyes.

Now she was losing time processing a small supermarket with Greg. A boring robbery but a lot of surfaces where the thief could have left his fingerprints. Complete mind-numbing routine.

She had almost finished with her part when she thought she saw Jennifer in a magazine cover. Later she would realise how stupid it was but she felt the imperious need of checking into the case. She left without even talking to Greg.

* * *

She had apologised. Why had Greg ratted her out to D.B.? By his tone of voice she was sure that was the reason he wanted to talk with her. She would reassure him she was fine, that it had been a silly mistake and that she would never question his orders again. He'd be happy and she'd return to work. It would be easy.

He gestured the chair so she seated herself. She didn't like the look he had on his face but she still felt confident.

-"Morgan. You abandoned the scene of a crime leaving your partner alone".

-"Yes, I'm sorry. I'll nev.."

-"I haven't finished" -he cut her off abruptly but then he sweetened his tone of voice -"It's not the only thing. You aren't okay. Conrad has been very worried about you and the rest of the Lab have noticed your sudden change of moods and it's obvious you haven't been sleeping. When Hodges came by today, I realised I should have acted sooner. Morgan you are relieved from service until further notice. Use this time to fix whatever it's wrong. We are worried about you. You know you can trust us with your problems".

A few words of the conversation were burned on her mind. Hodges had been the one who had convinced D.B. to bench her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** What Morgan is doing is NOT healthy in any way. It's gotten to the point when her psyche is breaking apart from reality. Do NOT imitate her! Anyway, what have you thought of this chapter? Boring? Interesting? I like it better than my last one but it's not a masterpiece XD I figured, with help from my friends, that I should hurry the events a bit and then I've just left what came out of my head grace the screen without much editing as I'm bound to do.
> 
> Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day/Single Appreciation Day so I hope you all enjoy it. I celebrate it the Japanese way making chocolates for my loved ones. Nothing better than seeing a dear friend enjoying a sweet you prepared with love =) I send you all the internet chocolates to you my dear readers. ¡Hasta la próxima!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The weather is going from crazy hot to cold here. I hope it's better wherever you are =)
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
>  **A/N:** Hi everybody! I'm being a good girl and starting the chappie-writing earlier than usual. It's actually 5:26 AM right now. I think my brain is refusing to disconnect because it doesn't want nightmares... don't worry, they aren't like Morgan's nightmares XD I'm going to fall asleep mid-chapter for sure XP Anyway, what the f*ck happened last chapter? Morgan isolating herself, Hodges completely at a loss finally deciding to go to D.B. for help and... will this be an unforgivable betrayal on Morgan's eyes? Now I'm scared of writing the confrontation but there's no turning back /over-dramatism mode on.
> 
> PS: I did fall asleep and I procrastinated like heck the next afternoon so I'm really sorry for publishing it so sooo late. It's even Friday for us European folks T_T
> 
> I'm so grateful you keep finding my story entertaining and that you dear readers decide to spend your precious time reading, reviewing, following and favouriting this little fic. I'm curious, how am I doing English-wise and not writing so many running on and on phrases? Bad from what I see hahaha. Well, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

A cold rage started spreading from her heart to the rest of her body. Its tendrils gaining ground until they reached the point of her toes and finally her brain, freezing everything in their way. They were taking the thing that kept her going. She dropped her badge and gun on the table unceremoniously.

D.B. looked really surprised. He must have been expecting her to freak out flipping the table or break down sobbing. Her heart felt rock hard. She wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. A small part of her wondered why was she been so hard on her boss but she quickly silenced the tiny voice of dissent.

She didn't trust herself speaking so she just stared at him unblinking.

-"Erm..." -he swallowed -"I guess you can leave now. We'll reassess in two weeks. Ahm, have a nice day Morgan".

She turned his back to him without saying a word.

-"Is this it?" -she thought, tears prickling the inside of her eyelids -"No, it isn't" -her resolve steeled. Her suspension mattered little. She was going to continue with their help or without it.

It was at that unfortunate moment that David Hodges got to where she was. His hair was dishevelled as if he had been compulsively combing it with his hands and he looked nervous, almost afraid. But she barely paid attention to any of that. D.B.'s words were still on slow repeat in the forefront of her brain.

-"Morgan, I wanted to tell you myself but D.B. prohibited it. I'm so sorry. You weren't eating or sleeping and you wouldn't talk to me. I didn't know what else to do".

-"So it was a good idea to go to our boss with tattle tales and make me risk losing my job" -she thought but aloud she just said -"Leave. me. alone."

He looked like puppy who had been kicked after being caught pissing on a valuable rug. She didn't feel any compassion. In fact she felt the need to lash out at anyone or anything in her way and it was getting impossible to contain.

-"I'm really sorry I went behind your back but I'm not sorry I did something" -he was looking at her intently -"You aren't okay".

-"I said LEAVE. ME. THE. FUCK. ALONE." -she wouldn't acknowledge that and she was worried of what she might do if this escalated. She had being so scared of hurting him these past few days that having a reason to isolate herself from him was a relief.

Techs' heads popped out like mushrooms at the sudden noise.

-"I can't leave you alone. I'm your boyfriend" -this was said softly so nobody else would hear -"and I care about you".

-"Not anymore" -her tone was final -"It is over".

There was some gasping from behind some Labs and Examination Rooms as people connected the dots.

-"Please, at least accept my help as your friend" -he was heartbroken and still he thought of her first. Instead of breaking her resolve, it strengthened it. She was royally messed up and the fewer people in the middle of the catastrophe zone, the better.

-"With a friendship like that, who needs enemies?" -she laughed darkly -"You've basically fucked up the only stable thing in my life. You've destroyed me. I wish I would have never met you" -she hoped that if she was harsh with him, he would just give up but, even riled up as she was, she knew it was such a big lie.

Nonetheless that seemed to do it. He looked hurt and defeated and he opened and closed his mouth several times without uttering a sound.

Taking advantage of the lull, she just left him there and went to pick up the parts of her stuff at work she deemed most important and throw it into a box untidily before people would get over the shock and hound her with questions. She picked up all her notes about the case hoping they wouldn't notice them missing and some other folders with lab results and other evidence. She would be in hot water if it was found out but that was secondary for her now.

Despite all the months she had been working there, there wasn't much to take home. Getting out of the building felt like a walk of shame. She clutched the cardboard box tightly while she looked up ahead avoiding paying any attention to the various curious onlookers.

Still, by the time she had reached her parking spot, tears were streaming down her cheeks. She dried them roughly with the sleeve of her shirt. What was done, was done. It might feel like someone had taken out her insides and was frying them at a slow burn but she had an objective and with the danger of sounding like a broken record, even inside her own head, she wasn't going to stop at nothing to fulfil it.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

Do you remember one of those ridiculous realistic Martial Arts Films where one of the villains, to show how evil he really is, takes out the heart of one of his henchmen but it's supposedly so good at it that his victim takes a few seconds to realise their heart isn't where it should be and it takes them a while to die?

Well, right now, he felt like he could really understand how that felt, having your heart ripped out and still continuing to breath and think and, in definitive, exist.

Of course he still possessed that annoying group of myocardial cells without whom no one could really live, at least until Science managed to step over that hurdle too.

He also knew that no matter how much poets waxed about it, the heart didn't physically host feelings, that was the brain neurotransmitters' job after all, but it didn't prevent him from feeling a deep oppression on his chest when she broke up with him, all the air leaving his lungs while his heart started to go into a minimal tachycardia and desolating images passed through his mind.

He let her go, just like that. What could he answer to the accusation of having messed up her life? What if it was actually true? No, he knew he had done the right thing. He had to believe that. It had already costed him too much.

He thought about her all the time. He knew he was persona non grata but he hoped being away from the triggering aspects of the Lab helped make her stronger to face her inner demons and maybe finally accept help. He just wished he wasn't being naive.

Surprisingly, people at work, including Nick and Greg, respected his privacy and Finn even brought him a Chocolate Muffin in sign of support. He made himself no illusions that they weren't gossiping behind his back about the blow up in the middle of the hallway or about how long they'd been together and if that was the reason of his break up with Elisabetta. They may be avoiding asking him directly but they weren't subtle with their looks and whispers precisely. *Sigh*

He wondered how long until it reached Conrad. Maybe it would be better if he called him himself before some maligned rumour reached his ear... but he didn't feel like he had the right after what had happened with Morgan. Also, what would he say: "Yes, sir. I've been sleeping with your daughter and not only have I not prevented her from breaking down but I may have indeed triggered it". Oh, no way in hell. He knew it was foolish to think people had the common sense to keep their mouth shut around their Sheriff so as not to aggravate him.

* * *

The following day, he found himself face to face with a very angry version of the man himself. He caught him in the parking lot half an hour before the start of the shift. It was a cloudy day because the weather had decided to match his feelings. Sometimes it was considerate like that.

The thing that jumped at him more powerfully was how alike their angry expressions were. Like father, like daughter. It almost made him smile but he didn't want to lose any teeth and Conrad was already fuming.

-"What can I do for you today Sheriff?" -he asked feigning ignorance at the reason he had come.

-"Are you dating my daughter? Where is she?" -he spat the words out.

-"Not anymore. I don't know where she is and I doubt she'd want to see me" -no sense lying.

-"How can you say that so calmly? D.B. called me yesterday about the suspension. I can't even locate her and I found about this" -he said pointing at him. He looked so pained -"I was here the other day. I trusted you and you didn't say anything".

-"It didn't start until afterwards" -he confessed.

-"What started?" -he flared -"You are an insufferable misanthropist who could be her father for fuck's sake".

He flinched. That stabbed too close to his own insecurities.

-"Look, it's over now so don't obsess over it" -he tried to be conciliatory.

-"What? Did you wait until she was emotionally unstable to prey on her?" -he accused Hodges.

He lost his self-control at the implications and regressed to his old self-defense mechanism, childish taunting.

-"No, I didn't but it wouldn't have been that hard taking into account her daddy had abandoned her again, this time for his oh so very important job pushing papers and rubbing elbows with corrupted politicians. No wonder she preferred me to you" -he didn't know why he was provoking him but he couldn't stop himself -"At least I was there for her when she needed me" - that was a lie on all accounts...

He knew the punch was coming and did nothing to avoid it. He actually welcomed the pain when it surged from his zygomatic arch all along the orbit socket and descending to the condyloid process of his left mandible. He might have trouble chewing on the next two hours and all the area was going to be puffy and painful, like a big ball of inflamed nerve endings. He had certainly deserved it.

To his credit, he looked really surprised at having assaulted a fellow law enforcement worker, no matter how hard he had tried for it.

It was a sobering blow and he dropped the insolent attitude in that same instant.

-"That was untrue and completely uncalled for. Sorry" -he apologised and wasn't disappointed when Conrad didn't accept it.

-"You must believe me when I tell you that I only want what's best for Morgan and that right now she is in a really bad place and she needs help but she doesn't want to accept" -he tried to convince him and added to himself -"least of all from me".

He understood Conrad might be distrusting of his statement. Between believing her little girl had grown up and was making her own decisions, right or wrong, hiding whatever she thought he wouldn't understand and the sweet lie that everything was A-okay, what would YOU want to believe? Well, denial is not just a river in Egypt after all and he knew he had to get to the truth on his own terms.. he just hoped it was soon.

He just told him that he didn't mind if he had a grudge on him until the end of time but that he should consider what he had just said and check for himself. He might just have better luck as long as Morgan didn't feel they were double teaming against her.

He nursed his cheek while he returned to the Lab. He was sure it was taking on a cute purple shade. Purple, nice sounding word, awful colour for your face. It was a giant neon sign that something had happened. As if people in the Lab didn't have enough gossip material...

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Stake outs by yourself were not only mind-numbingly boring but it left her too much free time to think.

Staying 24/7 inside a car, careful not to be seen left you with little stuff to do except revisit the events of the last weeks once and again and, worse yet, you started seeing things that weren't actually there. Like with flashbacks, she usually just needed to firmly close her eyes and open them again for it to disappear. That wasn't the problem. What was troubling was how long it took her to realise they couldn't be real.

She wasn't stupid, she knew not sleeping was probably diminishing her ability to discern between things real and fake but this time she had an even better reason not to sleep than nightmares. She wouldn't forgive herself if something important happened when she was, to say it poetically, in Morpheus' arms. There was no other solution but to stay awake since there was no one else with whom to take turns.

After all this time, she thought she might be able to draw the front entrance of " _El Galeón_ " with her eyes closed.

She was starting to feel how heavy her eyelids were becoming when there was the clack of someone opening one of the back doors and entering the vehicle.

She turned to face the intruder, her adrenaline thrumming through her veins. It wasn't who she was expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** If I had to say who I thought was more OOC this time around, my vote would go to Morgan. It probably was because I kept jumping from one plan of action to the next and then back, oh indecisive me. Anyway, I'm happy-ish with this chappie. It could have been longer... but I have to get up early tomorrow. I hope I haven't spoiled you too much with 3K+ words chaps that you can't accept a shorter one XP I like this one less than the last one but better than the one before that. What's your opinion? Did you expect more from their confrontation or Conrad's? This was the chapter of the confrontations TOTALLY. Not like I had planned it. Poor daddy Conrad has been completely out of the loop and it's finding it very hard. I wish him luck because he'll need it =P Well, who do you want to hug/console more of the three main characters featured in this chapter? Who do you think is the mystery person who entered the car? Tell me in a review!
> 
> I hope you have an awesome weekend ahead of you. I'm going to a circuit with hanging bridges and other fun stuff in the nature. It would be even better if I was fit which I certainly am not XD See you next Thursday sweeties!
> 
> P.S.: Small purple Easter Egg for players of Zombies, Run! 2.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I see one more illness diagnostic test name more today, I'll take my eyes out myself...
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
>  **A/N:** Hello people! How is your week going? I'm visiting my family which it is its own kind of torture although I love them... most of the time. I don't think I told you guys that I've started cross-posting this story in other sites and that means re-checking the chapters and finding such gems as substituting eyes with ears as in there weren't red rims around zie ears instead of eyes. Ouch. Or realising that it makes no f*cking sense that Officer Mitchell is doing the work of a Detective but deciding not to fix that because it would take way too much effort and probably confuse some of you =P
> 
> Thank you sooo much for putting up with my messy storytelling and for reading, reviewing, following or favouriting =) Last week everything went to shit and now no one can contact Morgan. Her father and Hodges are really worried and someone has just entered her car where she was stalking a MacAuliffe property. And that's what happened last week, this week in Two Messed up People: /upbeat voice

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

-"Sara!" -she exclaimed shocked -"what are you doing here?"

-"I should be asking you the same thing" -Sara said gravely.

-"But how did you find me?" -she was puzzled.

-"After that scene in the Laboratory I knew you wouldn't just be a good girl and take your suspension lying down but I had to check a few other places before it occurred to me you'd be this reckless" -Well, she had nailed it...

-"Still... how could you spot me here?" -Morgan stubbornly insisted.

-"Did you think this kind of vehicle would look inconspicuous here?" -she pointedly asked.

-"Eh?" -she hadn't really thought her car would look so out of place -"Shit, really?"

-"Relax, I'm just pulling your leg"-her smile was mischievous -"I recognised your car and I had no trouble remembering your license plate number".

Morgan wasn't in the mood for joking.

-"If you are going to tell me to go home and do nothing until my suspension is over, you are just wasting your breath" -she was direct.

-"You are partially right... I'll admit that that was what I was planing to do but as I reviewed the case for clues about where you were" -her voice softened -"and I thought about the little girl's situation, I couldn't picture myself asking you to stop. You know about my past..."

Morgan felt incredibly grateful at the first supportive words she had received about what she was doing and patted Sara's back to comfort her.

"But you should be clever about how you go about it" -she became all business again -"It's clear that even if the kid was ever here, they aren't going to risk bringing her again to a place that maybe the police is still staking out".

It wasn't like she hadn't thought that already but she didn't have many options.

-"Do you have any suggestions?" -she asked intently.

-"I was just telling you this is already too risky... I shouldn't..." -she backpedaled like a cyclist pro.

-"Cut it out and tell me" -she pressed Sara.

-"Well, I want you to succeed and I'd do the same if this was my case so it would be hypocritical of me if I tried to prevent you from acting..." -she paused as if still in doubt even after what she had just said -"looking at your notes, you noticed that Tierney MacAuliffe was doing businesses every Thursday with some thugs in the illegal Baccarat tables at the Chinese Quarters norther of the Strip. That's five days from now".

She nodded affirmatively. Mitchell had tried to sniff something out but it hadn't worked. It really wasn't a police friendly area and the patrolmen stuck out like mushrooms in a daisies' field.

-"I doubt following MacAuliffe is going to take you to where the kid is hidden but you may be able to dig some dirt. It won't stand on trial but" -the rest of that sentence was left unsaid because it fell on the dark grey side of the grey scale of morality -"Are you sure you want to put your career on the line?" -Sara looked at her like she knew right then what her answer was going to be and the implications of it.

-"There's no going back. Thank you for having my back" -her facial muscles were having trouble remembering how to produce a happy face or even a grin.

-"Always" -Morgan felt a strange sensation looking at the other's lopsided smile... like there was something wrong with it -"Now, get some sleep. You'll need your strength if you are going to go ahead with the plan".

She was going to say that she wasn't really tired but the accumulated sleep deprivation or the relief at having a better idea of what to do next made her eyelids turn to solid concrete and she couldn't keep her eyes open.

-"Heh. Have a nice rest" -Sara's voice came like through a distorting filter.

She was asleep even before Sara had left the car.

* * *

**Interlude**

Fifty yards to the East and a few floors above there was a fifteen year old boy looking inside Morgan's vehicle with his "bird-watching" binoculars.

He had been doing it the last 24 hours with breaks to sleep, eat and school. Apart from the fact she was hot, it had been fascinating and he imagined hundred back stories for the lone blond girl in the car. She might be homeless, she could be stalking a boyfriend, she could be FBI looking to get a drug bust. The possibilities were endless and she had been fun to watch until now...

After witnessing the conversation just described above, although he couldn't hear a single sound, he felt a bit creeped out to continue. So he got up from his perch position in the window and went to play some Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. He should be doing his homework but there was always time during recess.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

Maru came running with the tinfoil ball clutched between his fangs. He jumped onto the bed and dropped it on his lap, meowing to get his attention. He picked it up and threw it across the room and there, like the Flash, went Kobayashi Maru to get it. After playing soccer with the little ball for a while, he brought the irregular sphere to him to repeat the cycle.

It was a relaxing exercise that didn't require much concentration. Which was as well because his mind was a battleground. Anxiety, guilt, worry, anger, ... all fought against each other for dominance. He wanted to crush his own cranium between his hands.

It had been a long shift. This week all shifts seemed endless and depressingly repetitive. It was especially hard because he loved his job... or used to. Now he just wanted to ditch everything and go look for Morgan but she had made it very clear that he was the last person she wanted to see.

Evaluating the events of the last days to think about what he might have missed, what he could have done different. It felt useless, he wanted to stop thinking, start acting. When had he so completely changed?

In the end he had been putting his hopes in Conrad but that Wednesday morning near the end of the shift...

* * *

-"How was San Francisco? Was it a smooth trip?" -even from his position at the other side of the room Hodges could see that it wasn't more than polite courtesy rather than real curiosity what motivated Conrad's question.

-"Yeah, last night's flight was half empty so boarding was a breeze. How have things been going here?" -she paused unsure about asking -"It's true what I heard about Morgan, that she is M.I.A.?"

Conrad looked about 30 years older when he nodded, creases around his depressed eyes, but then he saw Hodges out of the corner of his eye and he decided to take the conversation outside.

* * *

It was clear that the Sheriff still needed some evidence or at least some time to believe his claims.

He finally had had enough. Thursday night he didn't have to work so he would look for something to encourage Conrad or maybe even find Morgan and convince her he was really on her side and always would be. It was foolish to have such high hopes and it was probably the desperation talking but anything else was too bleak to contemplate.

He prepared his clothes for tomorrow, one last shift and he would go looking for her. She'd probably be completely pissed off at him but it would be worth it. The water for Maru was clean, his food bowl full and he himself was filled to the brim with enough nervous energy to over-run the Duracell and the Energizer Bunnies combined, so the idea of eating or going to bed right now felt pointless. If he had been a superstitious man he would have prayed that the stars aligned to grant him his wish. As it was, he tried to force himself to sleep by trying to plan for every possible eventuality. Seeing this wasn't working, he tried the good classical method to think up every Star Trek planet name from the most modern saga to the oldies. It always worked and he hadn't even named thirty before he was out for the count.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Following the showy limousine or one of the older vehicles Tierney possessed was child's play. All things considered, it was an improvement over watching the club. At least stalking him, the scenery changed and that kept her more attentive and concentrated. Apart from that, it was 9 parts out of ten the same boring stuff she had been doing before and the days had gone by quite slowly. She had been like a hawk hunting its prey but she hadn't gotten proof of anything illegal just yet.

After falling asleep while Sara was saying her goodbyes 5 days ago, she had managed to minimise sleeping and that meant less nightmares but the ones that she'd had had been something else. They were vicious and gore-y with Jennifer, Hodges and Conrad being torn apart limb by limp, flailed or burnt out alive. Their cries deafening her ears while she got her throat raw asking for them, whoever "they" were in that dream, to stop and punish her instead.

She sometimes started smelling the foul stench of burnt human flesh even awake and would turn her head to see a vivid image of a disfigured Jennifer Clegane staring at her. The first time she had had to open the door of her car to puke what little was on her stomach. Afterwards, she had kinda grown accustomed to it... what was disturbing in its own way.

At least, today was Thursday and he would be going to the Chinese Norther Gambling Quarters owned by the Chan Family. She wondered if they would also be in on it or if it was just some thuggish individuals who roamed the area. If it was the former, she'd have to be even more careful.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He'd tried her flat, her favourite restaurants and grocery stores. Nobody remembered seeing her in the last few days. That spelt real trouble. The only logical explanation, and it was really likely as well, was that she had continued working the case.

Finn had sent him a message wishing him well and regretting they had to stay in the Lab and thus be unable to help. He messaged back not to sweat it. It wasn't that long ago that he was the "asocial creep who was a kiss-ass" and nobody wanted to talk to him. If it hadn't been for Wendy and then Morgan, he'd still be that grouch. One more reason to find her before she jeopardised her career as CSI or worse. Right now he didn't mind if she never wanted to be her friend, no matter how much it hurt, the stakes were bigger than that.

After stalking all the locations related to the case a frightening premonition-like thought started to creep out from the lower part of a pile of the information dump that was his subconsciousness. He remembered reading Tierney's Thursday schedule and Mitchell's notes on it.

Fuck. She was going to go to an illegal gambling den without backup. And so was he.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

The place was surprisingly well tended too but it still had all the markers of an underground community. She had dressed with what she deemed looked like a sex worker's outfit. Not the Heather's Dungeon type, more like the "I need to pay for my next dosis of crack" way. For once it helped that she actually looked like hell.

Tierney, followed by his bodyguards, entered the dimly lit locale. She followed suit trying to be inconspicuous.

The first room was bustling with activity and although one croupier looked like he was going to call someone to kick her, he soon got distracted by a drunk customer.

Tierney and his people continued into the next abode and she walked onto it as well. Suddenly, one of MacAuliffe's bodyguards turned abruptly and grabbed her wrist forcefully.

-"What do we have here? A little curious cunt?" -he smirked -"What do we do with her boss?"

-"I don't care. Do whatever you want" -he said barely giving her an uninterested look.

-"As you say boss" -he answered giving her a once over look and licking his lips lasciviously.

She tried to extricate herself unsuccessfully. The guy was three heads taller than her and twice as wide. She didn't see any way out. Damn damn damn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Morgan being reckless again... and I have this question for you. If you thought that the only way to save a kid was to try and spy on a drug kingpin and then try extorting it out of zie, would you do it? That's the end morally justify the means in this case? Where do you fall in the grey scale of morality? Do you think it's just a way to get yourself killed and helps the kid nothing? Well, what do you think of this chappie? I'm not super happy with it. I wrote it in bits and parts in between errands and I hope it's not too disjointed? There're some really not subtle at all clues in the text about Morgan's _psycho_ (logical) state and she doesn't _pass_. One more little Easter Egg for you people =)
> 
> I'm sorry if you feel that this chapter should be longer. This seemed like a good place to stop. I hope you have a really awesome week and that you don't spend the weekend grinding your teeth waiting for next chapter (As if!).


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm never getting the Epilogue finished *sighs* Back to studying!
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.
> 
>  **A/N:** Good afternoon sweeties! I'm still with my family but tomorrow I will return to my shared flat finally! My number of reasons to not have the chapter ready on time will be decreased to studying and procrastination again =P Anyway, last week's chappie Morgan got herself in trouble and some of you were about to ask for my head if I didn't update soon hehehe. Also, I tried to show the degree to what Morgan's psychotic break was messing up with her head but I think that wasn't too clear... well it is spelled out in this chapter however underwhelming the revelation might be...
> 
> I get really happy reading your reviews and every time I see a new e-mail telling me someone new is following or has favourited the story or when I check the daily traffic and there is a new country added to the list... it just puts a smile to my face. You are all awesome ^_^ Enough sucking up to all of you wonderful people and let's get to what you really want, a new chapter of this story!
> 
> Trigger warning: Mention of rape.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

The grimy mountain of a man had a steely grip and pulling to free herself was only going to dislocate her shoulder. It sucked that she couldn't even get the small caliber gun she had in the tiny purse. She tried kicking him in the groin but he was expecting it and he blocked the hit. She was probably not the first woman this beast had harassed and he had learnt a few tricks on the way.

-"If you try to scratch me, I'll cut your hands. I promise to be _gentler_ if you behave. Your choice" -he had big creepy grin as he said this and Morgan started to seriously panic. There was no one in the room and the one next door was so loud her screams wouldn't be heard and, even if they were... no one from there would want to get into this kind of situation. They'd just think that she deserved it for being there or for being a prostitute... as if someone ever deserved to be raped.

Instead of losing time weeping about how sick some people were she gave it a try. She screamed with all the strenght her lungs allowed while she continued resisting and he laughed at her efforts.

-"Shout all you want but I'd prefer that you'd reserve it for when I've got something inside you" -the creep chuckled and she shuddered.

It was true that in none of her nightmares calling up for help had actually worked and she was quickly losing faith. The beastly man started feeling her up with the disgusting dirty appendage he wasn't using to hold her wrists.

-"Get those filthy bacteria riddled claws out of her!"- Hodges came out of nowhere like a knight in the rescue of his princess (the mental image of David Hodges in white leotards and a sword in a gilded scabbard was priceless) and she started pulling harder trying to untangle herself from the gorilla.

Using the surprise factor in his favour he shoved the thug away from her but the shock at the interruption lasted for just some seconds and the creep looked ready to counterattack. He seemed like an angry bull, fumes coming from his nostrils. He only needed to scratch the floor with his hind legs before charging to complete the mental image.

-"Get those hands where I can see them!- she shouted at him, the metal of the gun she had quickly pulled from her bag glinting under the artificial lights of the fluorescents tubes.

Hodges looked at her with a fond smile and she momentarily forgot why she was mad at him or what logical reasons were those for keeping everyone at bay.

The brute was staring at the barrel of the firearm dumbfounded but then a devilish smirk started spreading through his rough features.

-"I'd say you should be the ones putting your hands up" -a raspy voice said from behind them. The noise of a pair of guns being cocked followed the subtle menace.

When they turned around they found Tierney MacAuliffe with the other one of his men and another Chinese man pointing a pair of revolvers at them. She felt anger hot as lava boiling inside her being so close to the criminal she was eagerly pursuing.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He had gotten there at the nick of time. Some disgusting pig had his paws all over her.

He had passed unnoticed as one of the many of the businessmen who came to blow all their pay money on the Baccarat tables. He looked everywhere and there was no sign of Morgan or the Irish American boss at any of the tables. The place was big and full of smoke but it didn't take him long to circle it whole without finding evidence of the blonde investigator.

He was starting to think he had gotten it wrong when he thought he heard a really soft muffled scream. The distortion from all the noise in the loud stance made it so he could barely pinpoint the direction from where it had come. He got closer to the back of the room and found a pair of doors behind some crates. The faint citrus-y smell of Morgan's perfume made him check the first one and there she was with her wrists grabbed by some asshole.

He shouted the first thing that came to mind and threw himself against the man. It was a similar sensation to banging a wall but he manage to destabilise him and push him away from her. Victory! Not so fast... his eyes were turning red with rage at having being interrupted and he reminded him to King Kong after the little airplanes fired at him. Gulps!

In that moment, Morgan pulled her personal firearm she had gotten after her kidnapping. It wasn't a big caliber weapon but the thug was clever enough to know she could blow his brains out with it and would definitely do it if he resisted. The no-nonsense way with what she was pointing her gun at the gorilla made him admire her a bit more if that was possible.

Then things got complicated again... that might be karmic retribution for complaining about the tedious shifts. Two armed men were now at their backs.

Morgan still hadn't lowered her gun or dropped it and neither had the other two, so before things escalated dangerously, he pulled out his field work credentials that he had brought because they made him easily recognisable as a law enforcement worker. Who would have thought there would have been something useful to having to do field work?

-"We are CSIs" -he hoped that was deterrent enough because right now he didn't have another Ace under his sleeve -"If you do something to us you'll be in deep trouble" -his voice didn't shake as he stated it matter-of-fact-ly.

At first it didn't seem to go over well. Tierney's face blackened and he had to tighten the leash on his two dogs as they started to salivate for their kills. He finally called them off and they lowered their firearms.

-"The LVPD is now stalking law abiding citizens? You do have some warrant for searching this nice establishment, don't you?" -his voice had gone ice cold despite his general politeness and it was eerie -"If you do, you should show it to me because if you don't have it, I'm putting a complain against the whole Department and you two personally".

He could swear he could feel murderous intent coming from his right. He put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

-"That's your right. My name is David Hodges and you can complain about me as much as you want" -he answered maintaining his composure -"We will be taking our leave now".

-"And your little partner?" -he pointed at Morgan smirking.

-"CSI Brody" -she answered through gritted teeth.

-"I said we are going now or do you want to face charges of unlawful imprisonment of a law enforcement officer" -that was a mouthful.

-"That's rich coming from you after entering here without a warrant but sure... you can leave and do not return" -the threat was more than implied.

* * *

They scrambled out of there and the first breath of fresh air felt fantastically invigorating like a good night's sleep or finding a new type of diatomea you could name but now wasn't the time to wax poetic about how awesome it felt to have survived that.

-"Morgan, you know that monster was right, apart from being suspended, you've come here without a warrant or back up" -he hated having to be like this but if nothing else had penetrated her skull by now... -"You could have ended in a nameless grave and everything would have been in vain".

-"It's not your fucking business" -she blurted back -"I am nothing to you anymore".

-"Of course it's my business. I care about you and that's not something you can turn off just because we've broken up" -he counter-claimed, his heart dying a little saying the last part aloud -"Besides you could still lose your job over this".

-"I prepared myself to lose it if it meant getting closer to getting Jennifer back" -she was stubborn as an ox.

-"And what would that have accomplished? You didn't get anything and if I hadn't figured it out no one would have even known where to start looking before it was too late" -it irked him that she put so little weight on her personal safety and well-being.

-"Sara knew it. She found me 5 days ago and we talked it out" -she had a look of triumph at having out-argued him.

-"How?" -he babbled -"She didn't come back until Tuesday night".

Morgan grew pale suddenly and her eyes bulged. She stood there quietly and Hodges started to get worried when she didn't utter any answer back in the next few minutes.

-"Morgan" -he shook her shoulders gently -"Talk to me. What's wrong?" -she still didn't say anything -"I don't mind if you never want to look at me again, I'm calling your father".

He started dialing. Conrad answered before the second beep.

-"Hi sir. I found Morgan" -he assaulted him with a flurry of questions -"She is... okay. We are in Bellevue with G street" -that got Conrad on overdrive again -"Don't worry, we are safe. Just send some patrol car to take us wherever you are and we'll explain everything" -or so he hoped. He sighed while he hanged up.

He was surprised to find a teary-eyed Morgan looking at him not with a fiery expression but with pure desperation etched in every feature of her face.

-"What's wrong? You can tell me. I'm never gonna judge you whatever it is" -those must have been the right words because she gave into the hug and started heaving and sobbing while he tried rubbing soothing circles against her back and said sweet nothings against her ear like he had done when she had her nightmares. Soon she calmed herself enough to explain.

It was awful to think she had been suffering from such vivid nightmares and to have to deal with them by herself. It broke his heart to learn she had wanted to maintain her distance because she was scared of hurting him again during one of them. He wanted to tell her that she should never have had to deal with a kidnapping that triggered her own trauma but that would sound like a recrimination and he didn't want to interrupt her now that she was talking.

When she got to the part when it started getting difficult to distinguish reality from fiction and the incident in the supermarket when she had become convinced there was a quasi-magical meaning that would lead her to the truth she sounded absolutely embarrassed. He could understand why she felt like that because CSIs valued Science and their mental acuity over everything else but still...

When she was about to explain the thing about Sara she paused. She seemed unsure about if she should reveal whatever it was but Hodges was pretty convinced he had already figured it out.

-"She wasn't really there, was she?" -he gave her a soft smile -"Your brain created a made up version of Sara. I don't know much about the topic but extreme stress and lack of sleep can drive you to a psychotic break where it's possible to have hallucinations" -he hugged her reassuringly -"You just need some rest and some help to resolve your trauma from the kidnapping and you'll be back on the job turning on piles of evidence and complaining about how slow I am".

That managed to get a small smile out of her and that was reward enough.

-"I don't know why are you consoling me after everything I said to you" -she said drying the tears with the heel of her hand.

-"I just don't know when to give up" -he said with his best smart-ass smirk. This time it got him a chuckle and a short peck on the cheek.

-"It seems so foolish now all the effort I put into keeping this secret. I was worried you'd look at me like I'm a dangerous demented person" -she was at her most vulnerable right now-"Part of me still thinks that's how you are going to see me from now on".

He embraced her wanting to erase every negative thing that had happened to her, every nightmare, every depressive thought, ... with the force of his feelings for her. He knew it was impossible but he still tried. He just wanted to transmit to her that she wasn't ever going to lose him, no matter what.

Finally she stopped him and, looking seriously at his face, she said:

-"I know"

And he kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** Well, to everybody who was looking forward to this chappie, was it worth the patient or not so patient wait? Did you enjoy it? I didn't want Hodges to be the typical knight in shining armor who always saves the demure princess because they are a partnership who work best when they work together. I also wanted Morgan to show the brave take charge kind of woman she is... even when she is plenty damaged right now. About that... well, yeah... there was no Sara, no one talking to her to convince her to stalk Tierney... that was all a delusion. Was it too much? too out there? Morgan has a lot of work to do and I think now she is ready to accept help =) It's still a pity to see her so defeated. At least things are on the mend now. Did you liked their reconciliation or was it too simple? Tell me in a review please!
> 
> Tomorrow will be a mini version of a moving day and on Saturday I'll be in class all day. If any of you have to actually move I commiserate with you... how do we manage to accumulate so many possessions I don't know. Have a splendid weekend my lovely readers!


End file.
